Changed Future
by Tiro
Summary: Sequel to Rewriting History. A threat against the Potter family lets them inside the Prince Manor, where Severus Mentis lives… along with a guest in the shadows. Slash.
1. Chapter 1

**Changed Future**

**Summary**: Sequel to Rewriting History. A threat against the Potter family lets them inside the Prince Manor, where Severus Mentis lives… along with a guest in the shadows. Slash.

**Pairing/s**: AbraxasAstus and some couples from the books.

**Warnings**: Slash, some violence.

**Disclaimers**: I don't own Harry Potter.

-o-

The awaited sequel to Rewriting History! Enjoy!

-o-

**Chapter One**

Lily Potter had been cleaning out some cupboards in the house when she stumbled onto an old photo album. Hearing her husband, James, play around with the twins, Harry and Harrison, along with Sirius and Remus outside made her relax a little and sit down with the album in her hands. She already knew what was in there.

Yet she couldn't help but opening it. Looking around, just to make sure no one was nearby, Lily then picked the album up and carefully inhaled.

The slightest scent, just barely there, of potions ingredients and fumes. Or perhaps she just wanted the scent to be there. It didn't matter. She put it back on her lap and smiled a little.

It was one of the last gifts she had received from Severus Mentis.

Still to this day she didn't know what had happened. The summer between their fourth and fifth year something happened to Severus, because he wasn't the same. Not for the rest of the school years at least. He kept to himself, avoided everyone else and Lily was ashamed to say that she gave up. Perhaps that was what he wanted. She didn't know.

Although they communicated every now and then these days, it wasn't the same. She sent him birthday and Christmas cards, as well to the Malfoys. She didn't know if she once had known Severus' father's birthday or not, but she sent a card every Christmas for him too. She didn't expect replies, but some years she received it, mostly from Bellatrix Black and Narcissa Malfoy. And from Narcissa came a greeting from the whole family, Abraxas included.

"Lily?"

She looked up from the album, and saw James in the doorway.

"Sorry," she said. "Lost in thoughts."

"What's that?"

"Oh, this?" She stood up. "Old album. Severus gave it to me in… third year, I think?"

"He gave you a photo album?" James said and opened it after receiving permission. "Wow. It's so hard to imagine these people laughing and joking around as us…"

"They're people, just like everyone else," Lily said.

James meant the Malfoys. The Blacks. The Mentis. Because that's what the photos showed. Some Muggle. Some magical. But all of them showing people Lily once had held dear. Well, she still held them very dear, but she had grown away from them despite not wanting to.

"Who's this?"

Lily looked down. Then up at James. "You don't remember?" she said. "You've seen him before."

"Have I? Can't remember him."

"That's Astus, Severus' father."

She did wonder what had caused Severus' withdrawal from friendship. For some time, she believed it had something to do with Astus since the teen refused to discuss his father after the summer after their fourth year.

"Well, I met him like once," James said and handed the album over. "Besides, you're the smart one in the family. I just fly on a broom and know how to throw a mean spell on dark rebellions."

Lily rolled her eyes and got a kiss on the cheek together with a cheeky smile.

"Why are you here anyway?" she said. "The kids are still outside."

"It's lunchtime," James said. "Thought I'd whip something up."

"You, cook?"

"I do know how to!"

"Just not very many dishes."

"Well, enough to get by," James replied. "Something light, cuz' the kids are gonna pass out if we cook something too heavy."

It was a warm day, and Lily was instantly worried that Harry or Harrison would get sunstroke.

"Don't worry," the man added seeing her distressed face. "Padfoot and Moony cast cooling spells on them. The kids are just fine."

Lily nodded, and James threw her another smile before walking to the kitchen. She put the album next to the others in the living room, carefully dusting away some dust from the bookshelf.

The house they lived in was in Godric's Hollow. A nice, quaint little village. Nothing much going on. And certainly not a place dark rebellions thought one of their greatest hindrances would live. James had inherited a large manor as he was sole heir to the Potter throne, but he hadn't wanted to live there. He wanted a homely place, and the house in the village was perfect for that.

Harry and Harrison like it as well. Now, it could be confusing, their names being so alike but Lily had no troubles seeing who was who. While looking like each other in the face and body, her two boys were quite different. Harry was vibrant and had endless bouts of energy, much like his father while Harrison was calmer and preferred to watch than do things. He was timid, quite different from both his parents but Lily didn't mind. She loved them both dearly. Harry was the one who had made friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger in particular, but Harrison tagged along with them often enough.

They also happened to be in different houses. Harry was in Gryffindor along with Ron and Hermione while Harrison was in Ravenclaw. He had also befriended Lucius Malfoy's son, Draco. Seeing as Lily had known Lucius quite good when she was young, James didn't really say much about it. But it was clear he didn't completely trust the man. She thought it rather silly, but James was stubborn and Lily didn't want to argue about it. She was just glad that Harrison and Draco got along.

Thinking about them made her think about Severus again. He was the potions professor at Hogwarts. She knew from the start he would be something amazing in potions, with the amount of time and effort he put into it, but to just remain a teacher… well, he did write articles and made potions to others but his main position was as the potions professor and Head of Slytherin.

She knew he had gained full access his mother's family's vaults and properties when he turned seventeen, and was living at the Prince Manor. His mother had perhaps married a Muggle man, but she hadn't been disowned. Everything went to Severus due to that. Lily sometimes wondered if he lived there all alone. He hadn't married. Had never even found someone to live with, from what little she had heard. Severus preferred his life private, but it was common knowledge he had no children. She thought of it as a shame. He would have been a good father.

Well, at least he was godfather to Lucius' and Narcissa's son. As he was in Slytherin, Harry had, like James, a tendency not to like him or his friends. Harrison didn't seem to care about that.

Lily turned from the bookshelf and the album, surveying the room. It looked clean enough despite her rummaging through the cupboards. She heard James work in the kitchen and decided to go and help him. She passed through the room but before she exited it she turned and had a last look at the spine of the old album Severus once had given her.

It shamed her to realize she barely even knew how his voice sounded now. Her sons probably knew more about that than what she did. She knew how he looked like, his picture showed up often enough in potions articles or interviews, but how many years since she sat down with him and just _talked_? Some days she was just seconds from writing a letter begging for that. But she never did.

Out of fear, or due to him being almost a stranger, Lily didn't know.

She tapped the doorframe, bit her lip as her eyes stayed locked on the album. Then she gripped the wood for a moment before letting go and leaving the room.

-o-

Hogwarts was quiet during the summers. Most of the professors were at their homes, spending time with their families or projects they were unable to properly indulge in during the school year.

Severus Mentis was one of them, however, for the moment he stalked through the halls of the quiet castle. His black robes stayed on despite the hot weather, and his pale face betrayed nothing if he felt uncomfortable. His mask of indifference had grown almost natural to adapt to in public. He had been using it for a long time after all.

He wasn't there to stay, he was just stocking some of Poppy's supplies and looking after some potions set to simmer over the summer. He had numerous potions he worked at in his own home, but there was always one or two at school.

The dungeon was a welcome relief of coolness compared to the hot corridors above, but Severus didn't betray anything nor did his pace slow to enjoy the cold.

After securing the potions and making sure his office was respectably clean, Severus went home.

The stillness of the manor surrounded him as he slowed down in front of the fireplace. There was this odd little noise here and there, the sounds that belonged in an old house. He took a breath, and relaxed. The cold mask melted away and he looked around. The scurry of feet could be heard, but he knew it was just the house-elves keeping themselves busy.

He walked out of the living room and through the front hall, up the stairs to the second floor. There were several wings in the house, but he took to the right immediately after coming up, and came into a corridor of several doors, and a set of double-doors at the end. The master bedroom.

Which he didn't live in. His room was to the left of the master bedroom, the others being guest rooms. Some had the same guests, as the room opposite of his. That one belonged to Lucius and Narcissa. Draco had the room next to theirs after he had grown old enough to have a room on his own. Next to his own belonged to, surely surprising to almost everyone else and natural to him, Petunia Evans. Unlike her sister Lily, who finally had given up on trying to make Severus open up after fourth year, Petunia had never stopped writing him. And in turn he had opened up to her.

Of course he didn't blame Lily. He still considered her a friend, despite their obvious difficulties at speaking with ease with each other. He communicated more with Remus than with Lily, but also that connection had been strained with Severus' behaviour in fifth year until graduation.

Perhaps he had done it on purpose, in an attempt to be left alone. Or maybe he hadn't done it with conscious thought at all. Severus didn't know now, and there was no meaning in trying to figure it out. What was done had been done.

He walked up to the master bedroom and knocked. The one living there was who mattered to him. There had been no question when he moved in, that this room would be offered to this person. After all, Severus had turned out to be who he was thanks to this man.

A quiet voice, and Severus opened one of the doors. Faint lights of the summer spilled through the thick curtains, and he slipped inside. Someone moved on the bed at the other side of the room, and a shape sat up.

"I'm sorry," Severus said. "Did I wake you?"

"No worries," the voice replied. It had a soothing effect on Severus, its deepness seeping into his bones and making warmth bloom in his chest. He hadn't told anyone that though, as they wouldn't understand. "What time is it?"

"Near lunch. Would you like to dine with me?"

"May it be done in the living room? I shant be eating much."

Severus sat down on the bed and a cold hand settled over his. He didn't flinch. Perhaps others would have, but he had nothing to fear from this touch, nor did he want to withdraw.

"Naturally," he said, gripping the cold hand tightly. He made a note of asking the house-elves to draw the curtains in the living room, to shut out the worst of the sunlight. "Will you be eating the normal way, or should I ask Minty to get you some fresh blood?"

The shape leaned closer. Light hit upon the pale face and dark cascades of hair framed it. Glittering green eyes and shadows underneath them, Astus Mentis smiled so his sharp teeth showed.

"I believe I would like the blood today," he said.

Tbc…

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this new beginning of the sequel to Rewriting History.

Chapter two: A quick trip to the past tells us how Astus returned to his family, and in the present a new enemy makes its appearance… attacking the Potter family. And so Lily and Severus are reunited in a rather different scenario that anyone of them might have thought.

I don't know when chapter two will come out, but I will get it out when I can.

Until later,

Ja,

Tiro


	2. Chapter 2

**Changed Future**

**Summary**: Sequel to Rewriting History. A threat against the Potter family lets them inside the Prince Manor, where Severus Mentis lives… along with a guest in the shadows. Slash.

**Pairing/s**: AbraxasAstus and some couples from the books.

**Warnings**: Slash, some violence.

**Disclaimers**: I don't own Harry Potter.

-o-

A lot of things have been going on in real life, along with lack of inspiration which is why this chapter ran later than I hoped.

But I want to thank you all for the reviews, they made me very happy. A few of you wondered about Astus' slight dislike of sunlight, and it will be explained as we go along the story. A lot more asked about Abraxas, and don't worry; I didn't magically cause him to disappear; he just wasn't in the first chapter ^^

Enjoy!

-o-

**Chapter Two**

**August 1974**

The Malfoy Manor was quiet. More so than usual. The house-elves moved around quietly, worked around their master and the other inhabitants of the manor.

Abraxas himself usually sat in an armchair in the living room, staring into the flames. Severus spent his time on the couch or in Astus' room, sometimes refusing to come out of there or leave his father's bed.

Several days had passed since the death of Voldemort. Around the United Kingdom wizards and witches celebrated. In Malfoy Manor, there was no such celebration.

Lucius entered the living room and walked up to where his father sat.

"Severus is asleep," he said. He had just gone and checked on his young friend.

"On his own or due to potions?" Abraxas asked.

"On his own this time," Lucius said. "He knows better than us that becoming addicted to potions aren't something anyone would want to be."

"Yet I wouldn't blame him," Abraxas said. "Not a sign, nothing. I was so _sure _he was alive, and now… school is soon to begin. There isn't a trace of Astus, how can I let Severus go to school without at least knowing whether his father is alive or dead?"

Lucius sat down on the arm of the chair and looped an arm around his father's shoulder.

"We all want him alive," he said.

"Except for the Light," Abraxas spat out. "I could see their faces, as Astus was changing. They were _disgusted_. They want him dead, if he isn't already. They don't want him back alive, safe and sound."

"We won't let them kill him, or even hurt him," Lucius said fiercely. "We'll protect him."

"It's funny how we talk about as if he's already here," Abraxas said after a while. "For all I know, he could be just a corpse right about now…"

"Don't speak like that, father!" Lucius clenched his hands into fists. "He's the love of your life after mother died. Don't speak like that…"

Abraxas nodded, tears shimmering in his eyes as he took one of his son's hands.

"Just when everything was like being in heaven," he whispered, "things had to turn so much I wonder if I haven't accidently stumbled into hell."

That's when they both heard the front doors bang open. Lucius flew up, Abraxas following. The two men looked at each other in confusion.

"Was someone coming?" Abraxas asked and his son shook his head. "Then who…?"

There weren't many people who could just walk up to the Malfoy Manor doors and knock on them, much less just walk straight inside. The Black sisters would've just used the fireplace, and Abraxas had made sure to strengthen the wards not even a month ago.

They both rushed into the hall, where Abraxas stopped dead and Lucius actually gasped.

Hanging onto one of the doors, robes full with dust, ash and blood, Astus looked up at them. His eyes shone, and when he smiled he showed off two perfect sharpened teeth amongst the others.

"Hello, darling," he managed. "I'm home."

-o-

**Present time**

Astus moved into the room after Severus, glancing at the half-closed curtains before smiling at his son who was busy settling up a plate for himself and a wineglass for his father.

"You didn't have to do that," he said. "I can walk perfectly fine in daylight you know."

"And sometimes light bothers you," Severus replied. "I can see it on you. A day-walking vampire isn't invulnerable against light; you know that as well as I do."

"Oh, don't sound so smug about it." Astus sat down next to his son. He watched as Severus drank some tea. "It's been some time now, hasn't it? Since I turned into this?"

"I don't mind," Severus replied.

"You cut off your friends at school," Astus said gently. "Lily and Remus… the other Slytherins…"

"I couldn't risk it," the potions master said. "I couldn't risk anyone _knowing _that you were still alive. I refused to let them even know, let them even have a _hint_, that you had survived. I had already lost you once, so I acted irrationally and closed off."

Astus reached out to stroke Severus' cheek. "I know that," he said. "Let's not dwell too much on it. You have wonderful friends now. You've never been alone."

"You worry too much about me," Severus said. Astus glanced away, embarrassed, as the potions master grinned. "Believe me, after what I saw in your memories, I'll never become the Severus Snape you once knew."

-o-

The summer heat remained, and sunny days followed. James was at work with Sirius, both of them Aurors, while Remus often stayed at the house with Lily and the kids.

As Remus' werewolf status was largely known, people were hesitant to hire him, or even talk too much with him and James and Lily therefore always had a room ready for him at their house. Right now he lived in a cottage far from other villages, but spent most of his free time with his friends.

"Still no luck in finding a job?" Lily asked as she conjured fresh, cold drinks to where they were sitting in the shade.

"Nothing so far," Remus replied and took the glass she offered. "I can't say I blame them, but it's slightly annoying that I got nothing much to do."

"You do make potions, don't you?"

"Yes, but it's a meagre income," Remus said. "I'm not as well-known as others. Severus for an example, people pay a lot of money for his because they know he's a legal potions master."

"He does have a natural talent for it," she agreed. "But you will find something you excel on, you just need to find the right kind of accepting people."

"Bloody hell, I had enough trouble finding you lot," Remus said. "Finding someone willing to employ me is going to be bloody impossible. But Albus did mention that he was trying to make Binns quit, seeing as he's a ghost, and I'm quite good in history…"

"That sounds wonderful, Moony!" she said. "Why haven't you told us?"

"Because… oh, I don't know. I was to the school just after the kids had gone home," the man said. "Met up with Albus. I bumped into Severus afterwards."

"He was still there?"

"Apparently he leaves some potions in the school labs and goes to check on them instead of bringing them with him home." Remus looked over where the twins were playing around with Ron and Hermione, both on a few weeks visit to the Potters. "It was actually surprisingly easy to talk to him. I thought it would be awkward, after school but no. Can't see why Harry is terrified of him, seems to be like any other professor."

"He probably does the eye-thing," Lily said. "Remember that? His glaring, oh Merlin, it used to terrify _me_. Don't tell the kids I said that."

"My lips are sealed," Remus said with a grin. "I did tell him though, that he seemed to be more at ease than the last years of school. I guess I was fishing for a reason, for anything really. He did agree, and you know what he did?"

"No."

"He apologized." Lily stared at Remus who shrugged. "Yeah, I know, like he needs to justify his behaviour. I told him he probably had his reasons, but he insisted he still should have explained it better. He was scared."

"Severus Mentis, scared? What could he possibly be scared off?" Lily asked as she took a long sip of her cold drink. The boys seemed to discuss wanting to play some Quidditch, which would send Hermione to them as she refused to ride a broom, much less play such 'a ridiculous and dangerous foolish game'.

"I don't know. He just said there was something he wanted to protect so dearly that he shut everyone off, teachers included. Those last years at school, sometimes I thought if he had gone and turned mute or something."

Lily only nodded. Something he wanted to protect so dearly… well, there was a plausible reason. Everyone talked about things, mentioning subjects they shouldn't have. Even if they don't mean to, most things they are told or suspect usually came barging out of their mouths whether they wanted it or not. Perhaps Severus feared if he let them know, they might let others know.

"Did he say what it was?"

"No," Remus said. "I didn't really ask either. I'm fine with him telling that much. We ate lunch in Hogsmeade."

"Oh, did you?" she said. "I really should do more than just send a letter now and then, I mean, my kids see him more than I do!"

"Yeah, is Harry still scared of him?"

"Definitely," Lily said. "Even though I said he's nice. I've shown him photos of Severus when we were young, told him stories but nope. Still scared. Harrison is the other way. I think he wants to become a potions master."

"And James' comments about that?" Remus asked with a slight smile.

"Not very happy, but what can he do?" Lily said. "Harrison is as stubborn as me. And James doesn't hate Severus."

"Just a strong dislike, right? Because he made you cry at school."

"Merlin, does it matter how many times I tell James it wasn't Severus' fault?" Lily said and rolled her eyes. "Some things just don't register in that tiny head of his."

"Don't let him hear you say that," Remus said with a laugh.

"Like I care," she replied. "Oh, Hermione. They decided to play stupid air-games?"

The young teen nodded as she came up to them. The boys were already running for the brooms. James didn't let them drive the fastest ones though, when he wasn't there to fly with them so they brought out a few old ones. They insisted they could handle the fast ones, they were actually fourteen, but James was adamant about that. Lily, seeing as she hated flying, didn't mind that rule. It meant less panic for her when the boys didn't have James nearby.

As Hermione got out one of her books, Lily and Remus fell into a comfortable silence, only broken by the sound of ice clinking together in their glasses when they took a sip.

-o-

A few days later they found themselves in Diagon Alley. Since Ron and Hermione were set to stay another week, they had been sent money from their families, and the Potters plus Sirius, Remus, Ron and Hermione were set to eat dinner at the Weasleys. The more the merrier, had Arthur said but Lily still wanted to see what magic Molly would use so they all could fit in there.

For now though, they were either window-shopping or buying things for real. Not school supplies, as the letters hadn't come yet. It was still far away to the school beginning anew. So they were just shopping. Lily had bought some potions ingredients, as she did make potions from time to time. Not very advanced ones, but she was planning on doing a batch of healing balm as it was running low with the twins and Ron scraping elbows and knees in their games. Hermione rarely got wounded, but even Sirius and James had to make sure of Lily's balms from time to time. Remus and Hermione was the same so she never worried about those two.

James had taken a free catalogue of new brooms and was browsing through it as they slowly wandered down the street, letting the kids decide the pace. Harrison had updated some of his ingredients too, as he made far more potions than Lily, whilst Harry and Ron spent a long time in the Quidditch Shop. Hermione had let them wait over an hour at Flourish and Blotts before she decided on _one _book. _One_ Harry and Ron liked to remind her, even now. Harrison was more interested in the coin he was flipping between his fingers. Lily knew it was a Muggle trick, but she also knew none of them had taught him that. She also knew Petunia knew how to do it, but was rather sure she had never showed Harrison.

Perhaps they should visit Petunia one day. James liked her well enough. She actually liked it when they used magic around her, and so no one had to hide their magic in her house. Just… don't let the neighbours see. They were awfully curious, which Petunia bemoaned. Lily had told her she should probably stop then running out randomly and shout about whatever came up in her mind. Petunia had replied that it was pure entertainment to see the looks on their faces.

So busy in her thoughts, Lily didn't notice anything was wrong until the wall next to her exploded after a spell hit it.

Home mother as she was, she still had sharp reflexes and had already pulled Hermione and Harrison, closest to her, down on the ground. Remus had done the same to Harry and Ron. James and Sirius had already started firing back.

People in black garments, hiding their faces, ran down the street. Chaos broke out as Lily got up, her wand out. She still knew spells that would do enough damage, let the heavier artillery come from her husband and his friends.

Twisting past spells and other wares that came flying, Lily pushed aside people to get to the attackers when a yell coming from a certain bushy-haired girl alerted her. She turned around to see the four kids on their own, enemies approaching them.

One thing people learned quickly from meeting Lily Potter, even when she was an Evans, was that one should never try to hurt someone close to her, nor underestimate her powers.

She must have Apparated with the way she appeared in front of the kids, spells already flying towards her. The last thing she heard was people screaming her name. Then it all went black.

-o-

Lily woke up slowly, feeling a hand around her own and slowly blinked her eyes open.

"Lily?" That was definitely James' voice and she turned to him. He smiled in relief and squeezed her hand. "Are you alright?"

"I think so," she said and sat up slowly. "Where are…? We're in St Mungo's?"

"Aurors are outside, and the kids are right there with Hermione and Ron," James said and helped her to sit up. "What do you remember?"

"Us being attacked by obviously a group of bloody idiots," she said and gingerly touched her head. She still saw the black-dressed people running towards them, throwing spells around them with no care for anyone else. "Did anyone get hurt badly?"

"No, mostly scratches," he said. "You were the only one knocked out. Running in front of the kids like that, I thank you for it but also, couldn't you have thrown a shield?"

"Not from that angle, I had to get in front of them," she said. "Besides, I only got knocked out."

"And it could have been an Avada Kedavra," he said. "You could have died."

"You and your 'could'," Lily said. "I'm alive. And where are my kids?"

Harry and Harrison were already on their way, and Hermione and Ron followed. Lily made space for the boys and hugged them both.

"I'm sorry if you got scared," she said quietly.

"It's alright," Harry said. "Just… don't do that again."

"It wasn't nice," Harrison added.

The door to the room opened and Albus stepped inside. His worried frown vanished when he saw that Lily was awake.

"I'm glad to see you up already," he said and closed the door. "It's been quite a day for you all, hasn't it?"

"Who were they?" James asked. "With those clothes on, I didn't even know if they were men or women."

"Rebellions who believed in Voldemort," Albus said. "They believe that erasing your family is a good way in starting a new war."

He didn't have to say killing. They understood anyway. James turned to Lily who held on tighter to their sons.

"We can't go back home, can we?" she said and the headmaster nodded.

"I don't want to put anyone of you at risk by letting you back there," he said. "Of course there are already Aurors there, securing the house, but we can't let them get a chance attacking you again."

"Where should we go then?" James said. "Everyone who is our friend is at risk if we go there."

"You need a safe place," Albus said. "Especially for the children."

"How are Ron's and Hermione's families?" Lily said in alarm.

"They're fine," Albus said and smiled to the two children. "But you can't go there right now. I believe you have to be with the Potter family a little while longer."

"But where?" James said. "I mean, we can't even stay here. It's too open, and most people here are defenceless against an attack."

"I've been talking to people, and I know a very secure house," Albus said. "The person there is willing to welcome you until we have dealt with this group. We believe it's a small individual group that's doing this. It shouldn't take too long to find them."

"Who is it?" Lily asked.

Albus looked a little nervous, wringing his hands and glancing over at James.

"It's Severus Mentis," he finally replied.

-o-

Lily was the one to meet up with Severus. James hadn't gone screaming his head off about the prospect of living with people born with a natural affinity to dark magic, but he hadn't been too happy either. He had been fine with it as long as he didn't have to see them. Spending time with them though, that should prove interesting. Even if he didn't outright hate Severus, he bore no fond feelings for the man.

Severus came to the hospital while James stayed with the kids. Sirius and Remus had joined them, as a precaution. So Lily made her way to the restaurant area in the hospital, flanked by Albus, and she had to admit she was nervous.

"I haven't seen him in person in such a long time," she said. "Oh my god, I don't even know what to say. It used to be so easy to talk to him."

"Things have happened," Albus said. "Some of the decisions made he might have done on his own in an effort to be left alone."

"I know that," Lily said. "I could see it on him. The amazing thing is that I didn't even try keep up, keep trying to be his friend. Can't believe I did that."

"I'm sure he never blamed you."

Before Lily could reply they entered the eating area, and she spotted him immediately.

Severus had grown into a tall, pale man dressed in black. For the day though, he had put aside the heavy robes he seemed to favour otherwise, and sat drinking a cup of tea in plain black trousers, black shirt and a dark grey waistcoat. Despite his dark colours, he almost seemed to melt in with the others. And yet he could make it seen like he was the only one in the room.

Harry was more or less terrified of him despite Lily's reassurances whilst Harrison had great fun in potions class. He always spoke highly of Severus, and often begged Lily to tell stories of when Severus was young.

Albus sat down first, and Lily followed. Severus glanced up from the paper he was reading.

"Daily Prophet?" Albus inquired.

"That rubbish?" Severus said, his voice deep and startling for Lily. "Not a chance. Whoever brings it in my house will never hear the end of it, and the paper will burn."

"So not the Daily Prophet then," the headmaster said. "What is it then?"

"Potions journal," he said and closed it. "There was an interesting experiment documented."

Then his dark eyes looked straight at Lily, and somehow she felt as if they were back in the library at Hogwarts, and actually looked around for her schoolbag. Then she reminded herself she was far from a schoolgirl, and far from Hogwarts itself.

"Hi," she said, strangely hoarse. She felt like she wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. "It's been a while."

"Indeed," he replied. "Are you alright? I heard you were the only one brought to the hospital for treatment."

"I got knocked out, that's all," she said. "I'm fine now. Are you sure you can fit us all?"

"The manor is big enough to house you for as long as it takes," Severus said and drank some tea. "Some of the rooms haven't been used in years."

"You live alone?"

"No," Severus said, "my father is living there with me."

"Yes," Albus said, "how is Astus doing?"

"Fine, just fine. You know him." Severus drank the last of the tea and relaxed into the chair. "Keeping busy when I'm away teaching."

"He still makes potions?" Lily asked.

"Yes. We're always fighting over the space in the lab at home," Severus said with a small smile. "I've been having plans to make it larger for years, but I never seem to find the time."

"Perhaps you and Astus should take some vacation," Albus said. "You always work, you two, even in the summer. How many potions are you working on?"

Severus coughed lightly and looked away. "Just a few."

"How many, Severus?" the headmaster said sternly.

"I think I'm up in nine at the moment," Severus said slowly. "Dad is worse; I think he's got two in his room, and another ten in the lab."

"It seems like nothing has changed with you two," Lily said. "You still love potions."

"It comes natural," he said. "When will you be arriving?"

"As soon as possible," Albus said.

"Of course, it's not exactly safe here," the potions master said. "I hope you don't mind that I told Lucius about it. He's still got some connections; he'll probably be able to help."

"I'll always welcome the help of Lucius, you know that," Albus said.

"Rather funny, isn't it?" Severus said. "He's known to be supportive of you, and yet dark people with ill intent still want his help."

"The Malfoys are an influential family," Albus said. "More than some of us in the Light can imagine. How are Narcissa and Draco?"

"Fine. They're coming to the manor as well. It's their usual time in the summer to stay over at my place," Severus said.

"Looks like you'll be even safer than I thought," Albus said. "No one attacks a house in which the Malfoys reside in, no matter who is there with them."

"Let's hope for that," Lily said. "I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt because of us."

"It's not like anyone can get in," Severus said. "The wards are built and custom-made by two people I trust a lot. It would take anyone days to get in, and by then we've already struck back."

"It is also a sign of paranoia," Albus gently reminded.

"I'm a paranoid man," the potions master replied. "My father is there when I'm not, and I don't want anything to get near him."

"Do you fear for his safety?" Lily asked, wondering if Astus had taken ill or something.

"I don't know," Severus said with a slight grin, "if I fear for his safety, or for the safety of whoever dares to attack."

-o-

The manor was certainly impressive from the outside. James still wasn't happy, nor was Sirius but they were smart enough not to mention it while the kids were there. Remus looked at Lily, both of them equally nervous.

Severus had pushed both of them away starting fifth year, and they had seen him do the same with everyone. The rest of the school he had been seen wandering alone, barely talking to anyone, and sometimes glancing around like he was afraid of something.

Lily had wanted to ask him why, but the look on his face when she approached was enough to make her stop her words. It was a mixture of pain and trepidation, and she didn't want to add on whatever weight he was obviously carrying. After school she had barely seen him, only heard years later that he had gotten the potions professor position at Hogwarts. He had seemed less inclined to be alone then, but with Lily getting the twins she had been busy with them.

Now she walked up the path to the house, as they hadn't been allowed through the Floo yet, and she couldn't help but want to rekindle the easy-going friendship they once had. She wanted that back, with all of them. Narcissa and Lucius, Bellatrix, even Astus and Abraxas. Every time she saw Lucius, tall and regal and cold-looking, she knew what kind of person he was on the inside, and that just made her heart ache more. That he felt he had to act like a heartless man in public, all sly smiles and hard looks at people when Lily knew the Lucius who laughed and joked and stressed about school exams.

"Bet this will be the most uncomfortable weeks in our lives," Sirius said as they came up the door. "Where was Mentis now again?"

"Emergency delivery to a hospital," Lily said. "He should be back any minute, but told us we were welcomed inside."

James sighed. "Well, it can't be worse than spending a weekend with Voldemort," he said.

"James!"

People spoke the old Dark Lord's name like it was a joke, often used as a joke despite the rebellions causing damage even to this day. No one knew who had killed the man, only that his corpse was retrieved and buried on an unknown location. Some said it was Albus himself that had buried Voldemort, others claimed that the rebellions must have gotten hold of it and were working to revive him.

Lily didn't like when people spoke lightly of Voldemort. He had caused a lot of deaths, and pains, and sorrows. Families were broken even to this day due to his actions.

"Don't say that," she added. "Let's just go inside."

She reached out for the door and opened them.

"Oh Merlin, Mentis really likes to show off," James muttered. "I mean, double doors as a front door, that's just ridiculous."

And in the next moment a spell flew past them as they piled into the hallway. Or rather, it was a large room, a great staircase opposite side of the door, and doorways leading to other parts of the house. It was all very nicely built with dark wood and stone. But yeah, it was the spell they were mostly focusing on.

"You bloody blonde oaf!"

A shriek, female voice, most definitely angry about something. And in the next moment Lucius Malfoy, the dignified pureblood as everyone but Lily thought, raced past them. Another spell came flying towards him but an elegant twist of his hand and it flew past.

"You missed again, dear Bella," he said.

"I'll tear that tongue out of your sodding mouth, you arse! Stay put!"

And Bellatrix Black, unmarried and to many considered absolutely bonkers, tore out of what appeared to be the entrance to the kitchen. Her wild black mane of hair framed her pale face, her eyes wide open and mouth in a vicious snarl. Her dress was more stripes and strings and leather than actual fabric, and did nothing to hide her very excellent figure. Sirius choked on his breath seeing his cousin.

Lucius, to the shock of them, _laughed_. Bellatrix bristled and raised her wand. Lucius ran, and she naturally followed, screaming bloody murder after him.

"Oh dear me," came a drifting calm voice. "Oh dear, he really knows how to push her buttons. Don't listen to your aunt's terrible language, Draco, you can't talk like that."

Narcissa Malfoy made her graceful entrance with Draco at her side. She spotted them frozen by the door and showed an angelic smile. She lightly clapped her hands together.

"Oh, Sev said you would be coming," she said. "He asked me to show you your rooms if he hadn't returned by the time you got here. Draco, why don't you go to the library?"

"Why can't I go to the potions lab?" Draco asked.

"Because Sev isn't here to make sure you don't blow something up."

James and Sirius choked on their breath as they heard the potions master's nickname.

"But uncle Sev _always _blows something up," the blonde teen replied.

"That's because he knows how to limit the damage," Narcissa said in a wise tone. "Sometimes I believe he does that on purpose."

"But Astus is here," Draco said.

"Now, now, you know full well as I that Astus is resting right now. I will not have you wake him up just so you can go blow something up. You can wait on Sev."

Draco sighed but moved towards the library. Then he stopped before going through an open doorway, and turned back to his mother.

"But mother, doesn't Astus also blow things up?"

"Yes, it's a father-son trait I'm afraid," Narcissa said. "Thank Merlin and all heavens that haven't rubbed off you."

"Father can't make a decent potion to save his own life," Draco replied with a snort.

"Yes, we all have our weak spots. Your father's is potions while mine is chocolate, now hurry along."

"Well, it didn't stop you eating those chocolate truffles yesterday," the blonde teen muttered.

Narcissa waved her hand at her son, blushing a bit. She turned to the group, still largely frozen and explained:

"It's very unfair how good they taste. I just simply couldn't resist. If you would please follow me."

She seemingly floated up the stairs, stopped halfway up before the stairs changed directions and looked back at them.

"Well, close the doors, please, and follow me."

They hurried to comply and scrambled after her. Narcissa sailed up to the second floor with a serene expression on her face before turning to them again.

"There is a third floor as well," she said, "but no bedrooms there. There are rooms that are locked, and should remain locked. The dust piling in them might suffocate us otherwise. Lucius tried it last summer, so we had to nearly evacuate."

She gestured around her. "This," she continued, "is the main room of the second floor. The hallway to your left leads to another library, and a sun-room. The hallway behind me leads… well, somewhere with lots of locked rooms. And here, to our right, is the hallway with the bedrooms."

It was a long hallway, and they stared down it. Narcissa walked over to the first door to the right.

"I thought this would be the room for Mrs Potter and Miss Granger," she said. "Girls should stick together, right?"

"That sounds fine," Lily said and put a comforting arm around Hermione's shoulder. "I imagine neither of us would have liked to be left on our own."

The girl nodded. Narcissa smiled her smile again and pointed opposite of their room.

"That will be the boys. We put in an extra bed so you three can share," she told the twins and Ron. "But no mischief. I promise you that Sev will pay back tenfold. Or Astus will. Or perhaps Lucius."

"Lucius Malfoy playing a prank?" James asked.

"Did not Albus Dumbledore sport pink hair last month?" she asked and they gaped. "Lucius said he went easy on him. Anyway, here are the rooms for you gentlemen. Two of your have to share; I'll let you decide who."

"But there's still lots of rooms left, Mrs Malfoy," Hermione stated.

"Oh, call me Narcissa. Or Cissy," she said and walked further down. "This room is for us, the Malfoy family. Opposite of us is for Bellatrix, she's staying here right now. And next to her is for Andromeda and her family, she has a lovely daughter named Nymphadora. Have you met her, Sirius?"

"A few times," he replied.

"I love how she can change her hair," Narcissa admitted. "Oh, and next to ours is Petunia's."

"Petunia visits?" Lily had to ask.

"Well, of course she does," Narcissa replied. "The room next to hers is Severus'."

They had come to the end of the hallway. Harrison took courage, and pointed at the double doors at the end of the hallway.

"Isn't that the master bedroom?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Shouldn't professor Mentis stay there then?"

"Oh no, he insisted on having this room," Narcissa said and put her hand on the handle to Severus' room. "The master bedroom belongs to his father. Astus Mentis. Do be quiet, please; he's taking a nap."

"What father lives with his own son?" James asked, glancing at the door. "He can't afford his own house?"

"Astus made his own home into a shelter for magical children in need long ago," Narcissa said, her tone rather frosty now, her eyes grown cold. "And he didn't ask to live here; Severus asked him to live here, so Astus wouldn't feel lonely."

"Pardon me," Remus said, "but I've felt it ever since we entered the house. My status as a werewolf is known."

"Yes," the woman replied, calmer now.

"I can smell things rather easily," he continued. "And there's a smell that's sunken into the walls."

"Potions gone bad?" James tried with. Sirius snickered. Lily elbowed them both.

"No." Remus looked at Narcissa. "The smell of a vampire."

All but Narcissa froze. The kids stared at the Malfoy woman as she regarded Remus. Then she nodded.

"Well, naturally you should smell that," she said.

The doors on the first floor opened, and Severus' voice sounded. Narcissa scurried past them faster than they could think, but James scrambled after her with the others following.

"What the hell you do mean with that?" he almost shouted. Spotting Severus, he pointed at the potions master and continued, "You listen here, I'm not having my kids anywhere near a blood-sucking beast!"

Narcissa hid behind Severus, who raised an eyebrow. "Blood-sucking beast?" he asked.

"I'm not having a vampire in this house!" James screamed, shaking off Lily's hand.

"Oh, I didn't know this was your house," Severus stated, deadly quiet and his dark eyes bore into James'. "And why do you refer this vampire as a blood-sucking beast?"

"Because that's what they are!"

"Werewolves have the same status as vampires, generally mistrusted for something they cannot help. Yet I don't see you cast away Remus like a filthy rag."

James stopped dead in his tracks. Then he tried to start over again:

"Well, vampires are evil!"

"And werewolves are of course pretty little puppies. No offence, Mr Lupin."

"None taken." Remus stepped forward. "James, I didn't say it because I didn't want the vampire here, or think he or she was any danger. I just wanted to know."

"Then who the hell is this vampire?!" James shouted. "Some twisted lover of yours, huh?!"

"Oh, I don't commit incest, Mr Potter, don't be insulting."

Their faces slowly grew blank, then long as the words registered. Severus smiled thinly.

"There are many things you can loose in a war," he told them all. "Your friends… your family… even your own life. But you can also lose your very own humanity."

He turned his gaze to Lily. "My father was attacked during the summer after our forth year," he said. "There was nothing to be done. He was turning, whether we wanted it or not. But the Light thought him dead after that, and I was scared that they would hunt him down if they ever discovered he had survived."

"So you pushed everyone away," Lily said, tears blurring her vision. "To protect your father."

"Protect me from what?"

The new, deep voice had them all turn around. On the top of the stairs, dressed in black robes and with soul-deep green eyes, Astus Mentis gazed down at them all.

"Good morning, dad," Severus said. "How was your nap?"

"Refreshing," he said and suddenly he was beside them. Merely a shadow behind him showed how he possibly could have moved. He turned to them all, skin pale and black hair framing his face. "Guests?"

"They will be staying here for a little while?"

Astus nodded but then suddenly took another look at Lily. He moved to stand in front of her in just a whisk of a second, and peered at her face.

"Lily…?" he asked.

"Astus," she whispered. "Oh Merlin, you haven't changed at all… you still look the same…"

He smiled at her, the same smile she had always seen, and suddenly it felt like a weight had tipped back in place.

The others were still in shock while Astus stretched to his full length. He turned to look at Severus.

"Why are they here?" he questioned.

"A long story," Severus replied. "How about we get them some tea and settle them in the living room?"

"Excellent idea," Narcissa piped up. "I'll go tell the house-elves."

Lily at that moment didn't care that her husband and his friends might not like Astus at all because of his vampirism. She would never care. Not even as she saw the glimmer of sharp teeth when he smiled widely at his son. This was still Astus. This was still a part of her life, and she felt like she was finally going to get it back.

Tbc…

* * *

I've been feeling guilty for not being able to finish this chapter until now. But it's been a rather tough time in real life, and you can't always will yourself into writing.

Anyway, the third chapter: The refuges at Severus' manor soon get another opinion of how vampires can act as Astus is all but a normal person, even without his vampirism. Also they get to know the Malfoys more than skin-deep, and Lily remembers something vital she forgot… something she could lose forever if they aren't there in time.

Look forward to the next chapter!

Until then,

Ja,

Tiro


	3. Chapter 3

**Changed Future**

**Summary**: Sequel to Rewriting History. A threat against the Potter family lets them inside the Prince Manor, where Severus Mentis lives… along with a guest in the shadows. Slash.

**Pairing/s**: AbraxasAstus and some couples from the books.

**Warnings**: Slash, some violence.

**Disclaimers**: I don't own Harry Potter.

-o-

Thank you all for the reviews!

Still, those who were worried about Abraxas, not to worry; he's coming here in this chapter!

Enjoy the reading!

-o-

**Chapter Three**

James apparently couldn't stay still. When they had been sent upstairs again to make themselves at home in their temporary rooms (after having tea of course), he wandered the corridor. Lily knew he still didn't like the fact that a vampire was near. To be honest, she didn't know much about them. He obviously thought he knew more, but when he and Sirius started to talk how to get out she knew she had to put a stop to it.

"He's not going to attack us," she said, interrupting them.

"And how do you know that?" James asked.

"Because he's Astus."

"So you know him so well?"

"He wouldn't hurt anyone like us," Lily said. "He's not like that."

"Well, you haven't known him as a vampire have you?!"

"And why would he change?" she said and grabbed her husband's robe. "Huh? Why would he have changed, just because he drinks blood now instead of eating normally? Do you think Remus is a monster?"

"No, of course not! But-!"

"No buts," Lily replied firmly. "There isn't a difference between Remus and Astus. Being something like that, a werewolf or a vampire, it doesn't change _who _you are. So stop trying to make Astus look like some sort of evil thing."

"But he's a _vampire_," James stressed.

"Yes, and we humans can be just as deadly as vampires and werewolves," Lily said. "It all just depends on how we are as people. Astus won't hurt us. He won't hurt the kids. But if you keep talking about him like that, I just might hurt you."

With that she stepped into the room she shared with Hermione again, and slammed the door close.

-o-

Astus heard the door and looked down at Severus again. They were both just on their way to the potions lab, having sent Draco on ahead of them.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

"Only in their mind," Severus replied. "Mustn't keep Draco waiting; Merlin only knows what that boy will find to play with."

"Have you not taught him the first lesson in potions brewing?"

"Don't touch anything?" Astus nodded with a bemused smile. "Well, I tried. It didn't work. He's as stubborn as his father."

"At least Lucius didn't play around with potions ingredients."

"No, he just made sure to annoy me whilst I was holding said potions ingredients." Severus opened the door to the lab, allowing Astus to enter first. "But he did stop after I threw frog's livers at him."

"Anyone would stop at that. Hello Draco."

He wasn't playing with any ingredients, thank Merlin. Nor did it look like he had done anything to the potions already brewing. He was glancing down at one, but was apparently only curious as to what it was.

"You haven't inhaled their fumes?" Severus asked, ever so fussy about his godson.

"No, I haven't. I can't find this one in the book, is it one of yours?" the blonde asked.

Severus took a glance himself and shook his head. "Dad's creation."

"Oh, which one?" Astus looked into the cauldron. "Severus, why are you recreating my potion that turns tongues blue?"

"Because it's a funny one?"

Draco grinned, and Astus sighed. "Very well," he continued. "Recreate away."

They heard footsteps, hushed but harsh whispers, and Astus' face turned sombre.

"They will not hurt you," Severus said. "I won't allow it."

"I know you won't. It's just… I'm still a bit unused to see people look at me like I'm a monster," the man said and fiddled with one of the books that lay upon a bench. "This manor has given me a rather sheltered life."

"Well, I won't let them harass you!" Draco suddenly said and took Astus' free hand. "You're the most awesome vampire in existence."

"Why thank you, Draco," he said with a smile. "Now, is there a potion you wish to make or simply watch me and Severus being our silly selves?"

"Speak for yourself, dad," Severus muttered.

-o-

Lily ventured out later. Hermione had already been picked up by the boys, and they were out exploring. She dearly hoped they wouldn't run into trouble. Those four, even if Harrison and Hermione had some sort of restraint, had a tendency to let trouble find them. Then again, James and Sirius had the same tendency. Remus was the sensible amongst them, serving as an older Hermione and Harrison.

She herself walked down to the first floor. She had no desire to explore, but perhaps to find Severus or someone else to talk to. Anyone really that wasn't her husband. Lily wasn't ready to forgive James just yet, and hoped he wasn't sneaking around looking for an alternative exit they could use in a pinch.

So she ran into Bellatrix and Narcissa first things first. The sisters looked at her, Bellatrix grinning and Narcissa smiling in her innocent, angelic way. Lily was actually more scared of Narcissa in that moment before said moment broke and Bellatrix grabbed her arm.

"It's been too long! Why did you go marry that Potter for, huh?" Bellatrix demanded as she led Lily to what appeared to be a library slash living room.

Narcissa trailed behind them. "Bella dear, don't be so unkind. I'm quite sure James Potter had some sort of good qualities in him."

"Very deep in," Lily said. "Hard to find but I managed. He's just very suspicious against… well, people he doesn't know from families he think he knows."

"That didn't make much sense," Narcissa said as she sat down. "Dear me, what a strange man. Lucius is much more forward."

"Sometimes a bit too much," Bellatrix said. "Your bloody man attacked me again."

"There is no attacking, my dear sister, he merely wants to say hello."

"And what? He's too shy so he sends a hex on me?!"

Narcissa merely put on an innocent face. Bellatrix sat down with a grumble and continued, "Well, where is this husband of yours?"

"Oh, I wouldn't know. I think he likes to explore this house as much as Draco does."

"He's not going to open one of the locked rooms again?" she asked. "The dust, Cissy, _the dust_!"

"I've warned him," Narcissa replied. "Never thought the trick with the riding crop would work again."

Lily blushed hearing that, and the sisters laughed at her reaction. "Oh, I see you imagine exactly what happened the last time!" Bellatrix said. "Oh, the look on his face the day after…"

"Shush now, sister dear, you're making Lily uncomfortable."

That's when they heard a bang. Mind you, a muffled one but a bang nonetheless.

"Dear me," Narcissa said, "Severus and Astus are blowing something up _again_."

The women stepped towards the hall again, where a door near the stairs led to the potions lab slightly underground. The smoke billowed from it and Draco lay on the floor, laughing. He appeared unharmed.

"Draco," Narcissa said gently and kneeled next to her son. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, mother, Sev made sure I was safe. But their faces!"

"Didn't quite expect that one," came a voice from the smoke.

Astus appeared first, or rather he was seen first. He took his robes away to reveal that he had protected Severus from the smoke with the fabric. Severus straightened up and looked back at the door, and smoke that was slowly turning green.

"Slight miscalculation," he admitted. "We shouldn't mix frog livers to that potion again."

"Agreed. What should we do about the smoke?"

"What have you two done now?"

Lucius came up, waving his hand. The smell wasn't exactly rose petals.

"Nothing," they both answered in tandem. Looked at each other. "Anyway, it was his fault."

"Will you please stop speaking at the same time?" Lucius said. "One may start to think you're children."

"How awful," Astus gasped as he waved his hand at the smoke. It began to clear, slowly.

"Saying we are children," Severus continued. "We just might have to punish you for it."

"… I've already run around the manor like a madman once today."

"Then we'll make you do it again!"

Lily hid her laughter behind her hands as Lucius quickly backed up before turning and running away, closely followed by Severus and Astus. Narcissa dusted off Draco's shoulders and sighed.

"They are truly the children of this house," she said. "Draco dear, don't grow up to be like them."

"So I can't blow potions up when I'm an adult?"

"Of course you can, that's not childish at all," Bellatrix said. "It's merely miscalculations, no matter who asks about it."

At that point, the four children tumbled down the stairs and looked at the smoke.

"Something wrong?" Hermione asked.

"Not at all," Lily said. "You kids doing alright?"

"This place is huge," Harry said.

"Got lots of rooms that aren't locked," Harrison continued.

"And most of they aren't dusty at all," Ron concluded. "How does professor Mentis do it?"

"Well, the house-elves of course," Narcissa said.

House-elves were a sore subject to Hermione. They had no doubt she would start ranting about it, even to the great Narcissa Malfoy but before anyone could start saying anything, the girl included, a said house-elf appeared with a small pop.

Click of the fingers, and the smoke disappeared.

"Ah, Minty," Narcissa said in delight. "Is something wrong? Too little food? Didn't Sev tell you of the new guests?"

"Master Sev told us all of the guests," Minty said, "Minty knows and Minty has all the foods she needs. Merely asking if master Astus shall be dining with food, or if Minty shall get some freshly blood in time for supper?"

"Well, I wouldn't know, you probably have to ask him yourself," Narcissa said regretfully. "By the way, young Mr Weasley, him there with the red hair, says there is no dust in the unused rooms. My, he compliments you so shyly, Minty, it's thanks to the effort of the house-elves this manor is spotless!"

Minty blushed and stammered, thanking them all before running back to the kitchen. Narcissa, who had bent down to speak at Minty more at the house-elf's level, straightened up and smiled.

"They are so easy to please that I can't help it," she said to the others. "Now, I wonder what damage has been done to the lab?"

With that she stepped to the door, Bellatrix following. Narcissa waved her hand too.

"The smell does say its part," she added. "Draco dear, what exactly were they doing?"

"Being bored," Draco replied. "Sev moved all the other potions away, so they're safe."

"I should've asked Minty for some refreshening spell," Narcissa said as she wrinkled her nose. "She's much better at it than I am."

"Why do you think Sev hired her?" Bellatrix muttered. "That elf is pure magic when she's working."

Lucius appeared again, rubbing his head, as Severus and Astus followed.

"It reeks," Astus commented. "Really, frog livers are forbidden as of now."

"You mean in potions where frog livers have no business?" Severus asked.

"Exactly."

"Minty asked what you wanted for dinner, Astus," Narcissa said. "Normal food or blood."

"Depends on what shall be served," Astus replied. "I'll find her."

"You're too picky, dad."

"Shush now, son. Going."

In front of their eyes he became more shadow than man, vanishing quickly to the kitchen. Lily and the four kids were the only ones who stared.

Severus waved his wand and the smell retreated a bit. "Have to ask Minty to get that sorted," he said and closed the door. "Where are Potter and the others?"

"You mean Sirius and Remus?" Lily asked and he nodded. "Well, Remus is probably somewhere where there are books. And James and Sirius are probably searching for an emergency exit because they are paranoid and bonkers."

Harrison and Harry laughed at that, already used to their mother's description of their father and his best friend. Severus raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with opening a window and jumping out if they are so desperate?" he asked. "It's not a prison, for Merlin's sake, I don't keep windows locked."

"Well, they aren't really thinking straight," she said. "At least not yet."

"You can inform them that the windows are at their disposal shall they ever feel the need to escape," Severus said, "just that I'm not going to help them if they break their idiotic bones when they reach the ground."

"Duly noted," she replied. "Maybe we should get out of the smell's way for a bit."

"Agreed," Narcissa said. "Library perhaps? One of them at least."

"One of them?" Hermione asked, perking up.

"Oh, it must be at least four in this manor alone," Narcissa said and looked at Severus.

"Why are you looking at me?" the potions master said. "I don't count anymore, books just keep coming. Soon every room will have a library section."

"Even the kitchen?" the blonde woman gently said.

"There already is a section there," Severus said slowly. "With food-orienting books, naturally. And a few on poisons. Don't ask why."

"Are the house-elves going to poison us?" Bellatrix asked in doubt.

"Hardly," Severus replied. "We're much too lovable to kill. Now, a room? One of the living rooms perhaps?"

"One of them?" Lily said.

"Yes. Last time I counted, I had six of them."

"Account that to seven," Bellatrix said. "I remade one of the rooms on the third floor into a living area."

"Oh, which one?" Severus asked as they began to walk.

"The one with the high windows. Well, the curtains normally hid those lovely windows, so I took the curtains away," she explained. "And the dust. And the cobwebs. And the spiders. And the Boggart while I was at it."

"I had a Boggart on the third floor?"

"Well, until last week you had one."

"Where is it now then?"

Bellatrix looked at him. "Where do you think, genius?"

The potions master gazed back at her. "… Second thought, I probably don't want to know."

"Good boy."

They came to a living room ("the main one," Severus explained) which held a reasonable amount of books for just being a living room. Plus some couches, very comfortable, and an open fire-place. There was no fire however, as it was already quite warm due to the hot summer weather.

"There is a little lake as well," Severus said as they settled in (well, the kids went off to the books). "If you want a swim some day."

"It's a very nice lake," Bellatrix added. "It looks tropical."

"That can't be right," Lily said.

"Oh, with magic it's alright," Narcissa assured. "I believe there is a similar one at our manor, isn't it dear?"

Lucius, who had picked up a book near one of the couches, nodded absently.

"The water is always perfect in the summers," she continued. "In the winter it tends to be a little chilly, so at home we use the indoor pool instead."

"Indoor pool," Bellatrix repeated and looked at Lily. "Completely bonkers, they are."

"Shush now, dear sister-in-law," Lucius said and looked up from the book. "You sound jealous."

"I am not!"

"It's not helping if you shout that loud."

"I am not jealous," she growled. "Or would you like me to chase you around the house one more time? I'm sure we'll encounter a hallway we've never seen before, and there I can do all torturous things to you without Severus ever discovering your corpse."

"I happen to know this place a bit better than you," Severus said and looked over at them. "Plus, I had a map drawn years ago when I got lost."

"Where did you get lost?" Bellatrix asked, confused.

"In the cellar."

"That's not big!" she exclaimed.

"I meant the second cellar. Well, there are actually four levels, but I didn't know that when I came to the second level. Had to call Minty to get me out."

"You have four levels of your cellar?" Lily asked. "Why?"

"I have no idea," Severus replied. "Apparently someone in my family thought it was incredible funny to create a mass of labyrinths that serves as cellars."

Astus swept into the room suddenly, startling Lily and the kids with the exception of Draco who continued to read from the book he had found. He was now lying stretched out in front of the hearth with Harrison sitting next to him.

"Decided on dinner?" Severus asked.

He nodded. "I ran into this Sirius," he said. "He ran away."

"Figures he's more scared of a harmless vampire than he is to stray Death Eaters," Severus said.

"I can hardly say I'm harmless," Astus protested.

"You are to him at this point, as you are not going to eat him. Unless he screws it up and does something stupid. Which he won't, because he has a brain and knows how to use it occasionally."

"Severus, that was quite rude," the man said and tapped his son's shoulder.

"Well, you raised me. And you're rude."

"Shush about that little detail of my personality, I'm only rude to people I dislike."

"Which means you must have been very rude to Voldemort," Bellatrix stated.

"I doubt there was anyone who managed to be polite to him."

"Except for the Death Eaters so he wouldn't kill them," she reminded.

"Politeness out of fear isn't honest politeness," Astus replied with. "Besides, I wasn't that rude. I just told him the truth."

"Which, being you, can be rude enough," Severus said.

Astus lightly slapped Severus' head, but he was smiling all the same. "True," he admitted. "But it was so easy to goad Voldemort I couldn't help it."

"Goading the possible strongest dark wizard in existence?" Lily said. "Are you crazy?"

"Possible. And just because he was strong didn't mean he was immortal. See, he died in the end like any other person."

"Still, he wasn't any other person," Bellatrix commented. "As much of a bastard he was, the Dark Lord was quite the challenge."

"Tell me about it," Astus said. "No, wait, don't. I don't want to hear about him today. What else can we talk about?"

Severus soon opened a book he had summoned over, and began to read it as the others settled down. Astus read over his son's shoulder as Lily watched them. So different, yet all the same. Both of them.

It started to calm down. She relaxed back into her seat and watched the kids instead. Draco and Harrison were talking quietly to each other, Draco holding a potions book in his lap. Harry and Ron had apparently found a book they liked, Hermione sitting next to them with a great big tome on her knees. Lily trusted that they hadn't picked any books that weren't supposed to be read by children.

As for herself, she really didn't want to read at the moment. All she wanted to do was relax and…

And she remembered something that made the blood in her veins run cold.

-o-

"I can't believe it!" she hissed once in the hall, Severus and the adults following her.

"Can't believe what, dear?" Narcissa asked.

"Petunia!" She turned to them. "Petunia doesn't know."

"I don't think she needs to know you're in danger," Bellatrix said.

"No, it's not that I'm worried about! They want us dead, yes? Once we're out of sight, won't they turn to the closest family? James has no one left, but it's common knowledge that I have a Muggle sister. _Muggle _sister, meaning unable to defend herself against any magical attacks."

They looked at each other.

"Severus, Lucius," Narcissa spoke calmly before turning to them. "Go and fucking get her _now_."

"Yes, ma'am, on our way, ma'am," Lucius said, saluting. "My wand…"

Severus held out a hand, Lily felt a surge of magic and Lucius' cane and another wand came speeding through a hallway. They caught their wands, Severus tucking his into his sleeve and Lucius gripping the cane.

"Well then," the blonde said. "Let's go."

"You know the way?" Lily asked.

"Course we do," he said. "Who do you think show up every year on her birthday and wreck havoc on the house?"

"The wrecking is all you," Narcissa said. "The others tend to be a bit more civilized."

"Liar. Severus, the Apparition point?"

"This way."

-o-

They almost landed in Petunia's rose bushes. Lily caught her balance, watching the two men do the same and Lucius glanced back.

"Wouldn't have wanted to fall on those," he said and straightened up. "Petunia would've killed me for it."

Severus was already on his way to the house. Petunia lived not too far from central London in a quiet neighbourhood, with the exception of the curious neighbours. Part of the house was more for her paintings than herself, and Lily followed after the two men as they stepped in through the kitchen door that led outdoors. They didn't want to enter through the front door if anyone of the neighbours would be looking. No need for them to see robed men walk around.

"Petunia?" Severus called out. "Are you home?"

"Doesn't sound like it," Lily said. "Petunia, please! Or she could be listening to music."

She ran upstairs to Petunia's bedroom but there was no one there. She took the stairs back down three steps at the time, and walked to the front door.

"Her shoes are gone," Lily said. "The comfortable ones she use when she's in London the whole day. Damn!"

"Then we have to track her," Lucius said. "Severus, if you mind…"

The potions master took out his wand but didn't do 'Point me' which Lily had expected. Instead he waved it in front of him and to her surprise, a map of London showed up in thin air.

"Lucius."

The blonde removed his wand from the cane and twirled it around before holding the tip to the floating map.

"Show me Petunia Evans," he said.

The wand moved. Lily bit her lip as she watched the wand track her sister's movements.

"Why of all days did she decide on a shopping trip?" she said. "Oh, I should've told her from the start and gotten her to safety."

"Well, she appears fine for the moment," Lucius said. "Otherwise we wouldn't be able to track her. Wait a minute, there…" The wand had stopped. "Grab onto me."

Lily grasped his shoulder as Severus put a hand on his arm. A moment later they moved, blackness and tight all around them before she was more or less thrown into a wall. She heard Severus and Lucius slam in on either side of her.

They stood up straight on the street, but Severus tensed.

"Magical people," he said and pointed at a group of five badly disguised men.

"I recognize one of them," Lucius said. "He's on the Ministry's wanted list."

"Where is she?" Lily hissed.

"There, at that window." Lucius boldly turned Lily around and Petunia's profile was seen before her head turned back to the glass. She was apparently looking at a dress.

Severus moved past them, but not in his robe. It seemed to have vanished, leaving him in black slacks and a white shirt, his hair up. Lucius whirled the wand over himself and he transformed before Lily. The long hair vanished into a shorter hairstyle, his dark green robes became a green shirt open at the neck with a pair of elegant white slacks.

"That will have to do," he muttered and made the cane vanish with a snap of his fingers. "Better get to Petunia before they do."

Lily stumbled after him just as Severus crossed the road and reached Petunia before the others did. She saw their wands out, wanted to get out her own but Lucius took a hold of her arm.

"Go to your sister," he said. "Once they know who I am, they will most likely leave. If not, I will make sure they do."

Lily ran over to Petunia, not needing anything more convincing than that.

"Lily?" Petunia already looked enough surprised to see Severus, and now gripped her sister's arm. "What's going on?"

"We'll explain in a bit," she said. "You're not safe."

"What's wrong? Sev, what's wrong?"

"A lot of things," he replied. "Let's go. Lucius will catch up."

Petunia followed without complaints, kept up with their brisk pace but did glance behind her back a few times. They made sure to mix with crowds, Severus leading the way and Lily keeping close to her sister, one hand on her wand. There were a lot of people on the streets, and finally Severus pulled them to the wall of one building.

"We'll wait here," he said.

"Can someone explain what's going on?" Petunia asked.

"People from our world," Severus said. "They're being a nuisance."

"More than a nuisance," Lily continued. "Bloody annoyance. They attacked us not so long ago."

"What?!" Petunia turned to her. "Are you all alright?"

"We're fine. I just didn't think until now that they would try to do anything against you. Apparently they were planning it."

"What, I was being followed?"

"Yes," Severus said. "That's why I said Lucius will catch up."

He looked down the streets to see a flash of white blonde hair and Lucius' face but for Lily it took too many minutes before the Malfoy showed up. He glanced behind himself and held his wand without caring who watched.

"Quick," he said. "We're not going back to your house, Petunia. Me and Severus will go back and lock it down, but I think they went back there."

"You mean they weren't discouraged by your charming, cold manner?" Severus said.

"Not really," Lucius replied. "But I did manage to curse one of them before they took the hint and left."

"We didn't hear anything," Lily said.

"I know, I made sure of it. Let's go, somewhere where we can Apparate."

Now Petunia led the way, more familiar to Muggle London than they were. She soon found them an alley that was secure enough. Lucius still cast a spell on either side of the alley so people wouldn't notice them.

"Grab onto us," Severus said. "We know the exact landing for the manor."

Lily grabbed Lucius' arm as Petunia took Severus'. A moment later the world spun around and soon they returned to the manor, Petunia still with her shopping bags and loosely fitting clothes for a relaxing day.

She knew her way around though, and Lily wondered just how much her sister hadn't told her. She had her own room in the manor. And she spoke to Lucius and Severus like they never grew away from her.

What Lily hadn't expected was Bellatrix's and Narcissa's reactions on seeing her sister. The twins, Ron and Hermione stared in shock as the two women crowded Petunia, Narcissa taking the bags and Bellatrix ushering upstairs. Lucius and Severus watched them.

"Women," Lucius said finally. "Shall we go and secure Petunia's house?"

"We shouldn't be more than an hour," Severus told Lily. "Perhaps you can make sure no one destroys anything."

"I'll try to find everyone," she said. "And Petunia, does she have any clothes here or the like?"

"If not, Cissy or Bella will already be on their way to get her some," Lucius said. "They can never pass on a chance on dressing her up."

For some reason, he grinned at Severus who mumbled something under his breath and then moved away. Lily looked strangely at him. Lucius only shook his head a little and followed.

James, Sirius and Remus had heard the women from where they had been on the third floor, and by the time Petunia was ushered down again they had all gathered in the living room. Remus had engaged Sirius in a game of chess while James glanced around at the books, looking still a bit suspicious. Astus was sitting on one of the couches, one leg over the other and his hands clasped around his raised knee. Draco had seated himself next to him this time and was reading a book with no title. Lily hadn't really wanted to ask what book it was, but a glance had told her it mostly looked like someone had personally written the text.

"Doesn't she look absolutely wonderful?" Narcissa said as she dragged Petunia into the room. "I really would like to do a hairstyle, but we might wait with that until tomorrow."

Petunia rolled her eyes whilst most of the others in the room stared at her. She was dressed in a white, fluttering dress with bare shoulders and arms, the fabric going around her neck with no visible seam anywhere.

"Every bloody time," she told Lily, "I'm telling you. Soon they're going to tell they just enjoy undressing me."

"Those clothes really weren't your style," Narcissa said. "When are you coming to live in the magical world and just forget all that normal silliness?"

"And she sounds like that always; soon I'm going along with it just to have her stop nagging at me."

"Why do you think I've been nagging all these years for?" Narcissa said. "Soon your defence will fall, and I'll win."

"No wonder your husband never wins."

"Lucius? Oh no, he got used to lose against me while we still were in school," she said happily. Then she turned to the rest of the people in the room. "Now, who would like some tea?"

-o-

The first night arrived after a lovely dinner (Minty didn't have any troubles with an additional guest, as she had already prepared double amount of the food they actually needed) and some quiet hours spent wherever they wanted. James and Sirius had calmed down a little, was still uneasy, but Remus had taken to play a few matches of chess against Severus.

Astus retired rather early, almost floating up the stairs and despite Lily knowing his vampirism it was still spooky to not hear his footsteps on the otherwise creaky stairs.

Lucius and Narcissa sat close to each other near the windows, she with a glass of wine and Lucius with a glass of whiskey. Draco sat at their feet, leaning against Lucius' legs whilst reading the same book Lily had seen before. This time, she knew what it was. It was actually a notebook of Severus' from when he was young and in the end stages of becoming a potions master.

Her own kids were with Ron and Hermione at the hearth of the fire, Harrison and Ron with a chess board and Hermione with a book. Harry was playing around with a snitch James had gotten him.

Bellatrix and Petunia was pouring over some books, wineglasses in one hand and quite often laughing. Lily found the sound reassuring. She herself was quite tired after their day of being thrown into a life they thought they knew the routines of. At least her husband and Sirius thought they knew.

Severus rose up after eleven and said:

"I'm going to bed now. Don't worry about any time you need to be up on; the house-elves are quite used to deliver breakfast at different times."

"Just because we like to sleep in," Narcissa said, "while you get up at dawn."

"I don't dally around in bed," Severus replied, "which is both your favourite time of the day."

"Breakfast in bed," Lucius said and spread his arms while he smiled at his friend, "I was practically raised that way."

"It's because Abraxas spoiled you."

"I know that better than anyone. Did you tell Astus he's coming in a few days?"

"No, must have missed that," the potions master said. "I'll tell him tomorrow. I wish you all a good night."

They heard him leave before the manor settled in its quietness again. Lily didn't think the kids would be far behind, as Harrison was already yawning at the chess board. Ron was winning, again. If there was something he was quickly turning an expert into, it was chess.

The later it got the more they separated. The Malfoy family left shortly after midnight, Petunia and Bellatrix not far behind.

"What do you say, Hermione, shall we retire?" Lily asked.

The girl looked up from the book she had found and nodded after a bit.

"I trust you kids will soon follow," she told her sons and Ron as she kissed Harry and Harrison goodnight.

"We will, mum," Harrison said, and Harry nodded.

James kissed her at the door. "Goodnight, love."

"Don't do anything stupid," Lily warned.

"I won't. If I do try, I'm sure Moony will stop me."

"I'll hold you to that," Lily told Remus who only smiled.

-o-

Lily poked her head out in the hallway eight the next morning, yawning a little. Hermione was still asleep so she closed the door silently. Judging from the magic around her, most were asleep just like the girl.

But just then, one of the doors opened and Lucius stepped out. In his night clothes. And a bedhead. Lily couldn't decide which one looked more hilarious. He closed the door and found her staring.

"Ah, good morning," he said. "Going for breakfast?"

"Yes…"

"Cissy prefers breakfast in bed, so I thought I'd surprise her. I'll only join you to the kitchen."

"That's alright."

They walked down the stairs and Lily asked:

"Do you think Severus is up?"

"Sometimes I doubt he even sleeps." Lucius glanced around. "I smell cooking. Severus has probably already eaten."

They didn't meet him on their way to the kitchen, but the small army of house-elves was more than happy to cook more food. Lucius made his request of breakfast on a tray, and insisted he could carry it himself. Minty was the one who objected.

"See, I can't even make them let me carry a tray!" Lucius said. "Come on, I'm not going to drop it."

"But it's our jobs to carry things," Minty replied.

"Not all the time. Please? I will be very careful."

Minty stared at him long and hard. "As you wish, Master Lucy," she said finally.

"Lucy?" Lily asked, voice a little choked. She was trying not to smile.

"They refuse to say my full name," Lucius replied. "As soon as they can, they give us nicknames. Except for Astus. I don't know, they adore him too much or something."

It didn't take the house-elves long to fix a breakfast for Lucius, Narcissa and Draco. Minty held the tray over her head so Lucius didn't have to bend so much, and then she said:

"Minty put a spell so the tea won't spill."

"Oh, thank you dear, that's very kind of you."

Lily was then served breakfast in the dining room, at a large table she rather felt strange sitting at. Luckily she didn't have to sit there alone for long. Bellatrix and Petunia filed in and Petunia sped to get the seat next to her sister.

"Good morning," she chirped, sounding awfully like a teenager instead a woman of her age. "It's been so long since we've had breakfast together!"

"You sound very awake," Lily said with a smile. "Have you been eating sugar all night?"

"No, I'm just so happy to be with everyone," Petunia replied. "The house does get lonely from time to time."

"Yeah, I guess. But how often are you here?"

"A couple of times a year," she said as she poured coffee for herself. Bellatrix sat down next to her and looked around for the teapot. "When I'm not celebrating Christmas with you guys, I do it here."

"With Severus and Astus?" Lily asked.

"Well, we tend to gather," Petunia said and looked over at Bellatrix. "Last year we were at the Malfoys."

"With a lot of Firewhiskey," Bellatrix added. "A _lot_."

"You and Lucius were the only ones who puked at the end," Petunia reminded. "When will you two stop having contests with each other?"

"When the earth stops turning," the woman replied with. "I am not losing to that platinum-blonde freak."

"He's not platinum-blonde," Petunia said. "He's just blonde."

"Who carries a cane. Who does that, even in our world?"

"Apparently he does. But admit that he does it good."

Bellatrix thought about it for a bit. "Yeah, alright, you win. Just the fact that he has one makes people stare. Which is strange considering how shy Lucius used to be."

"He was shy?" both sisters asked.

"Yes, I mean it!" Bellatrix replied. "It was only when he got older that he started getting confident. He was a real sweet kid you know. Abraxas can tell you all about that later."

"Speaking of which, am I right in saying he and Astus has a thing together?" Petunia asked.

The black-haired witch grinned as she stirred her tea. "You would be very right, Petunia. Oh, they look so perfect together."

"Wait, what?" Lily said. "You mean, Severus' father and Lucius' father are… a couple?"

"Yes, of course," Bellatrix said. "Really, the sexual tension between them has always been there."

"Oh god, are we ready to hear this?" Petunia asked. "You're not going to get into details, are you?"

"You think I spy on them in the bedroom?"

"Yes, I do."

"And you would be right," Bellatrix said. "Always wanted to see two guys in action. Unfortunately you can't hide from a vampire. They have both good hearing and they can smell you. I don't stand a chance. Although they do tend to get into some really heavy kissing when their kids aren't looking. And in Abraxas' case, his grandkid."

"So you haven't seen them in the bedroom I hope," Lily said, blushing while she was at it.

"Not yet. But still, the kissing is nice." Bellatrix looked up at the roof, and then at the sisters. "I think I need a life."

"Yeah, so do I," Petunia replied. "In the meantime, scones?"

-o-

The women had been joined by the others except the Malfoys and the two Mentis, and so conversations differed widely around the table.

However, on their way out and in the hall, they at least found Severus. He seemed to be on his way to the potions lab but had stopped near the stairs to read from a book. He glanced up when they came closer.

"Morning," he said. "If anyone is interested there is a training ground outside for those who want to be outside."

"And for those who doesn't want to train?" James asked.

"There's a lake," Severus said, turning page in the book. "And lots of grass, if that's what you're asking."

"Don't forget the forest," Bellatrix added. "There is a bloody big forest too."

"Yes, there is a forest."

Severus stopped and frowned just as Lucius came walking down the stairs, dressed for the day. The potions master turned to look at him, and Lucius stopped.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I'm not sure…" Then he looked up. And sighed. "Dad, what are you doing?"

Everyone else looked up to see Astus staring down at them.

"I perceive a deeply disturbing problem," Astus said seriously, arms crossed.

Severus stared at him, as did the others. Astus tilted his head to his side, awaiting an answer from someone of them. When nothing came, he raised an eyebrow. The potions master cleared his throat.

"Dad, I hope you're aware of the fact that you're standing in the ceiling," he finally said.

"Oh, am I?" Astus said and looked around. He dropped to the floor gracefully and straightened up. "Well, I thought you looked rather odd."

"Right. Are you alright, dad?"

"I need my Abraxas," the vampire stated. "Where is he?"

"Coming soon," Severus said. He and Lucius shared a look. "Did you have to say he's yours?"

"Yes," Astus dead-panned, "I really had to. I want to snog him."

"Dad, no one says _snog_ anymore," Severus groaned. Lily stifled her laughter whilst Bellatrix and Petunia made no point in hiding it.

"Am I embarrassing you?" Astus asked sweetly. "I might sing the word until Abraxas arrives if it does embarrass you."

"About your general statement about my father yesterday Potter, I change my mind. He is evil," Severus told James. "Completely and utterly evil."

"Oh please," Astus said, "I'm an angel."

"No, you're not. You're evil, and way too horny for your age."

"Severus, such language!" Astus reprimanded. "That's my job, saying things like that. You're supposed to be the well-behaved part of the family."

"He?" Lucius said and laughed. "He blows potions up because he thinks it's fun!"

"I don't!"

"Yes, you do."

"I do not!" Severus insisted.

"Calm down, children, calm down," Astus said and the two men glared at him whilst James and Sirius apparently took turns in looking shocked. "What? Don't look at me like that. I got all the embarrassing photos of you as children; don't make me become a blackmailer."

"As if we behaving would stop you," Severus muttered.

"That is very true," Astus pointed out. "I guess I am evil after all. Now where is my Abraxas?"

"He's not here yet!" both Lucius and Severus said while the others stared at the three of them. Harrison was the only one of the kids present that was grinning.

"Oh, I know that very well. I just thought he would get here quicker if I kept nagging on about it."

"Well, it doesn't," the potions master said.

"It doesn't?"

"No," Severus said. "Are you going to cry about it?"

"No, of course not. I've passed that stage," Astus huffed. "However, I might just blow something up."

"Target practice outside," Severus said with a stern look. "Bellatrix has already done her practice on Lucius inside. More than once."

"Oh, what happened to her?" Astus asked, clapping his hands together.

"The first time? Nothing much," the potions master said. "Just hung her upside-down in the dungeon until she learned her lesson. Yesterday I just needed to warn her with the dungeons, and she behaved. Mostly."

"And you call me evil," Astus muttered. "Practice outside then. Shout if my Abraxas gets here."

"Will you stop saying he's yours?!" Lucius and Severus shouted after the man.

"Never!" Astus slammed the door shut behind him.

-o-

Lily was actually the one who witnessed Astus' and Abraxas' meeting. The others had spread out in the manor, Severus going to his lab and Lucius vanishing deeper into the manor. Narcissa and Draco joined Bellatrix, Petunia and Lily in the main living room. James, Sirius, Remus and the kids was still exploring the complicated mass of Severus' manor, finding the oddities that made the potions master into the man he was today.

She was quite certain they hadn't spotted her when she came to the entrance hall only to see the doors open and spot Abraxas stepping inside. He hadn't aged. The same hairstyle, the same young face and alert eyes, the easy smile on his lips. One could easily mistake him for Lucius' brother, and not his father. In fact, little had changed about him since she last saw him which was when she was still in school.

Astus came rushing down the stairs, apparently having returned from the outside grounds. He was grinning. Abraxas had barely time to catch him, and they hugged tightly, Abraxas gripping Astus' hair and the other clutching at his back. Lily wasn't sure whether to back or just announce herself. Then Astus withdrew, took the blonde's head in his hands and kissed him deeply.

Suddenly, Lily felt like she was intruding and most definitely shouldn't announce herself. They didn't snog each other, as Astus had stated he would do earlier, but the kiss was intimate, more intimate than anything she had witnessed before. Abraxas' hands stroke down the vampire's chest, resting on the thin hips as they gently explored each other's mouth.

Then they separated, leaning their foreheads together.

"I missed you," Astus breathed out finally.

"I was gone for barely two weeks," Abraxas replied. "Surely I can't have been that missed."

"Oh hush, you." Astus stroke his face, kissing him again. "I was lonely."

Abraxas laughed breathily, kissing his nose. "Liar."

"Okay, so I managed without you but I prefer it when you're around."

"That's more like the truth. And I missed you too, love. What are all the noises in the house?"

"We're protecting the Potter family with their friends," Astus said. "Surely you remember Lily Evans, now Potter? She's standing right there."

Of course he knew. Lily smiled a little as Abraxas turned to look at her.

"Oh my goodness," he said, "Lily? I haven't seen you in years."

"Hi. Same to you I guess. I've only heard what others have told me. If you want to meet your son, I'm not sure where he went at this time…"

"In his room," Astus replied. "Or their room. He's reading."

"That's right. Narcissa never said anything about your room," Lily said. "Or do you…?" She looked at Astus, suddenly embarrassed.

"Of course I sleep with Astus, silly," the blonde said with a smile. "He would be lonely without me, wouldn't you?"

"Naturally," Astus said. "And now, as I haven't slept, I want to take a nap now. With you as my pillow."

"Have you been locking yourself up in your room again?" Abraxas said. "That's not good for you."

"I've endured many looks since my vampire nature became known," the man said, "but it had been a bit too much yesterday when people in this house stared at me like I was the freak of the month."

"My husband," Lily quickly explained. "Frankly, about this… well, he's a dick. He assumes like an idiot that Astus is evil, despite accepting Remus who is a known werewolf."

"Ah, James Potter. He's been trying to give the Malfoy family a lot of grief," Abraxas said. "Tell me, if you think so, why did you marry him?"

"Because when he's not a dick, he's nice," Lily said. "And I'm trying to retrain him."

"You've been doing a rather good job," Astus said. "He hasn't insulted Severus yet. Or rather, not in a way that has irritated Severus."

"And if I get to decide, he won't do it. Not to anyone. He was very insensitive towards you Astus, but I won't stand for it."

She looked at them both, and realized they looked very good together. Contrast, yes, but in a nice way.

"You wanted to take a nap, Astus," she said. "You better go so James or Sirius sees you and does something stupid… _again_. You have my permission to smack them on their heads if you do happen to run into them, and they aren't nice."

"Understood," Astus said with a smile. "Come on, Abraxas."

"As you wish, my dear."

She watched as they walked up the stairs, smiled a little to herself and considered telling Bellatrix about it. Then, remembering what the woman had said, Lily figured Bellatrix already had more than enough of those two kissing and so went back to the living room without telling anyone.

-o-

In the meantime, Astus and Abraxas did get to bed. They just didn't take a nap first. Abraxas' robe was draped over one of the chairs in the room. As it was the master bedroom, it was larger than the others, much larger, and had its own walk-in closet.

Astus lay under Abraxas and traced the man's face with his fingers.

"I missed you," he murmured.

"So I gathered," Abraxas replied quietly. He made sure not to put too much weight on Astus' thin frame, although he knew his weight wouldn't hurt his lover. "Have you been getting upset about those people, love?"

"They only arrived yesterday," he said. "And they're not so bad. I mean, once you get used to them."

Abraxas hummed and kissed Astus' forehead. "And seeing them again? Not being part of it, I mean."

"It's… fine. I'm fine. But I didn't have a twin last time. Feels more like Harry is the person I would have become had my parents survived, and Harrison is an echo of who I really was. A faint one, mind, he seems to like Severus and I never did during my school years."

"Shush now, that's not nice to say such things about your own son."

"Well, when I really was eleven, he wasn't my son. He was the devil incarnated," Astus said and twisted so he lay on top.

"Really now?"

"We used to call him the bat of the dungeons," he said. Then he laid down his head on Abraxas' shoulder and sighed. "Can't believe it now. I mean, he's best friends with Petunia, and she loves magic. That alone twists my whole world. Wait, Lucius and Narcissa, and _Bellatrix _are friends with her. My world has been blown apart in shock."

Abraxas laughed lightly and kissed Astus' temple. "It's not so bad, is it?"

Astus smiled and moved so they lay side to side. Abraxas turned so they could look at each other. Their shoes were already off along with their robes. The blonde unbuttoned Astus' shirt and revealed the pale chest. The scars he had received before becoming a vampire stood out white against the slightly coloured skin. Abraxas traced one of them before they moved closer. Astus' body was cool and he drew the covers up around them.

"I don't want you to get cold," he murmured and nuzzled Abraxas' neck.

"I won't. It's summer."

"Doesn't matter."

"Sshh," Abraxas soothed. "I won't be cold now. Sleep. I'm here. Maybe we'll go outside tomorrow. Watch the others play around. You know Draco loves the lake."

"He's not the only one. Even Lucius loves it."

Abraxas hummed. "I know. Now, sleep."

Astus wrapped his arms around his lover and held on tightly, allowing his eyes to slip shut. He felt Abraxas caress his back, stroke his hair, and smiled even as he sank into his sleep.

-o-

Around dinnertime Lily had just showered and was on her way to the dining room when Severus came up the stairs. He was carrying a tray in one hand, and a wineglass filled with what appeared to be blood.

Lily couldn't help but look at the glass. He stopped briefly when he saw her, and then explained as he nodded towards his father's room:

"They wanted to eat dinner in private."

"Understandably. They seemed to have missed each other. And, Astus might be uncomfortable eating in front of us. Or, drinking."

"Yes, that might be part of it," Severus confessed. "It took him several months to get used with us sitting in the same room. The first month he starved though."

"Why?" she wondered.

"He didn't want to drink," the potions master replied. "I had to convince him. According to him, he felt like a monster."

"Which he isn't," Lily said. "He's Astus Mentis. I don't think he ever was a monster."

"You're right. It's just hard to convince dad the same. He didn't exactly have the best childhood." Severus looked at his father's door again. "I better get going."

"Of course."

She looked after him as he walked down the hall. Before he even reached the door it was opened by Astus. His long hair was free, framing his face perfectly. He smiled at his son, pulling the door open wider and Lily caught a glimpse of Abraxas sitting on the bed. They were both dressed but from the looks of it they had actually been sleeping.

Before one of them took notice of her, Lily walked down the stairs with a small smile on her face.

Tbc…

* * *

Another chapter done!

Chapter four: A relaxing few days at Severus' manor, the Light gets to learn the dark. But not all things are alright, as the Order tries to find those wanting the Potter family dead.

Until later,

Ja,

Tiro


	4. Chapter 4

**Changed Future**

**Summary**: Sequel to Rewriting History. A threat against the Potter family lets them inside the Prince Manor, where Severus Mentis lives… along with a guest in the shadows. Slash.

**Pairing/s**: AbraxasAstus and some couples from the books.

**Warnings**: Slash, some violence.

**Disclaimers**: I don't own Harry Potter.

-o-

Thank you all for the reviews, and I apologize deeply for the long waiting. Fanfiction had to step aside for a bit. Even as I write this, guilt consumes me. I think this is the longest I've made anyone wait for a chapter.

With that out of the way, please enjoy reading the newest chapter.

-o-

**Chapter Four**

Their third day at Severus' manor started with breakfast in the dining hall, Astus and Abraxas absent. The manor was kept cool thanks to spells, but they could all see the warm sun outside, and it didn't take long for one of the kids to ask if it was alright to take a swim in the lake.

"That's absolutely fine," Severus replied as he looked outside. "There is a terrace, so we can all be outside if we want to."

"Sounds marvellous," Bellatrix said and looked over at Lucius. "I have to win over you in our water-game."

"You're still not even?" Petunia said. "Bella, shame on you. You're letting him win?"

"No! He's cheating!"

"I assure you," Lucius said, "I'm not. You're just crap at it."

Bellatrix flailed with her arms, slammed her hands down on the table and stared at him. "That's it," she growled. "You're going down, one way or another, _today_."

"That should be interesting," the blond replied with a smile.

James and Sirius looked at them, at each other, then at Lily.

"Don't look at me," she whispered. "I didn't know any of this."

"Calm down now," Severus said. "You will both get your chances. Just don't try to involve me like you did the last time."

"It was an accident," Lucius defended himself.

"A complete, tragic accident," Bellatrix reassured.

"Still, it got me wet and none too pleased, and it got you both an hour in the cellars," the potions master said and looked over at them. "Don't make me do that again."

"I thought you liked stringing people up in the cellar," Bellatrix mumbled.

"Only you two," he assured.

Bellatrix stuck her tongue out at him before returning to her plate.

-o-

The water was bliss, cool in the hot weather and Lily lay down on the deck chair, letting the sun dry her. The kids were still in the water, Draco included in the group now whilst Petunia sat near the water and just dipping her feet in.

Astus and Abraxas were outside too, though under a large sunshade and both lying on a wide deck chair. Abraxas was down to white cropped trousers and grey tank top whilst Astus still had black slacks and a simple white shirt. His skin looked even paler in the bright light, and his black hair only made it stand out more firmly.

However, he seemed to be enjoying himself, dozing with his head nestled into Abraxas' shoulder. Abraxas' hand moved slowly over Astus' shoulder and back, half-lidded eyes watching the lake.

Severus was seated next to them, in shirt and cropped trousers with a book propped open on his knees. His hair was put up and Lily realized how much it made him look younger. He could easily pass as twenty.

"What are you reading?" she asked him after a while.

"Transfiguration," Severus said absently. "Minerva recommended it to me."

"How is Minerva anyway?" Astus suddenly asked, opening his eyes to look over at his son. "Feels like ages since I've seen her. Is she still turning into a cat to spy on students?"

"She does seem to enjoy it a great deal," Severus admitted. "But yes, she's doing just fine. I know both she and Albus wouldn't mind seeing you more often."

"I know," Astus said. "I just… well, ever since I turned into this, I haven't enjoyed the public as much as I used to."

"Is there a difference from before?" Abraxas muttered. "You were socially awkward when I met you, and it didn't exactly change ever."

"I was poorly educated in the area, now I'm just not into walking around and having people stare at my pale complexion." He ended this with pinching the blond's arm.

"Ouch! That hurt, you brat!"

"Not a brat," Astus mumbled. "Ooh, don't move. Found a comfy spot."

Abraxas grumbled but lay still as Astus soon fell asleep again. The blond betrayed his pretend anger by running his hand through his lover's hair and tilting his head so he could bury his nose amongst the silky strands. Severus only smiled at them while Lily bit her lip.

"They look very good together," she said after a while to him.

"I know," Severus said. "I'm just glad that they found each other. Or rather, stopped dancing around each other and just confessed."

"Severus," Abraxas said, "we didn't do any dancing of any sort. We merely took it slow."

"You were the one kissing him all the time," the potions master said.

"Well, I had to weaken him somehow!"

"You had that plan in mind the whole time?"

"Mostly. I think. Or I hope I had it." Abraxas stroke Astus' hair again and looked over at them. "I like the end result."

"Yeah, well," Severus replied, "looks like dad likes it too."

Narcissa chose that moment to come out with fresh drinks, and Lily couldn't help but stare at her. The woman was clad in a white bikini, hair put up and looking ready for a swim. Bellatrix followed, and she was dressed the same expect hers was black. Lucius was the last one, in a shirt and shorts.

"Are we going to have that war or not?" Bellatrix asked Lucius. "I bet that I'll win this time."

"This time you won't," the blond assured. "Where's Potter and his friends?"

"Around," Lily said. "I hope. I like to think that they're just exploring and not avoiding us."

"Don't worry about them getting into trouble," Severus said. "Should they try for the wards right now, they'll bounce back. It's better if they don't leave alone. And all the doors in the manor that should be locked are locked, so they can't get in somewhere they shouldn't be."

"They're quite good at planting things, like pranks," she continued. "James and Sirius do that all the time when they're nervous."

"And I'm quite good at removing them," the potions master replied. "I live with a prankster father, I've learned over the years."

"Astus does pranks?"

"He loves it," Abraxas said while rolling his eyes. "I don't know where he gets it from."

"I know James and Sirius does it because they're still kids inside," Lily said.

"Astus might do it because he never was a kid in the first place," the blond said. "He was never allowed to be a child."

Lucius took Narcissa's hand by now, after she had put down the drinks, and together they walked down towards the lake. Bellatrix, grinning, sprinted after them. But Lily wasn't interested in that. She sat up and said to Abraxas:

"But I thought he had a relatively normal childhood?"

"That's just what it says," Severus said. "My father hides a lot of secrets about himself, including how he really grew up. I doubt anyone but Abraxas knows every detail."

"Are you suggesting we bare our souls to each other at night?" the blond asked.

"Not suggesting. I'm saying it, and don't try to deny anything."

Abraxas smiled a bit. "I guess you're right. Plus Astus doesn't want pity. He doesn't think telling everything is necessary either."

"So he's secretive?" Lily said. "Mysterious?"

"That's his charm," Abraxas said, grinning.

"You lot are talking about me, aren't you?" Astus suddenly grumbled.

"Not at all, love," the blond replied. "Go back to sleep. You're too energetic during the night."

"It's generally my time to be up and around. I've always been a night owl," Astus said and yawned. "Plus the sun makes me sleepy."

"Like a snake, you fall asleep the moment a sunbeam hits you," Severus said.

"Hush, child," Astus said and looked up at him. "Not all the time. It does sting sometimes so I have to move into the shade. Why aren't you bathing?"

"Because I don't want to right now. You do it."

"Never, one has to undress for that. I'd feel embarrassed."

"Is he always like this?" Lily asked.

"Constantly," Severus replied.

Astus stretched and sat up before reaching over Abraxas and snagging his drink that Narcissa had placed out for him. He drank half of it and smiled.

"That dear Narcissa knows how to make a drink," he said. "Perfect."

"That she does," Severus agreed.

Abraxas shared the drink with Astus before they both settled down, neither sleeping nor fully awake. Severus returned to his book and Lily rose up. She walked over to the water, where Petunia now had gone into, and joined her sister.

"It's lovely, isn't it?" Petunia said.

"Very lovely," Lily agreed and sank down until she could only breathe through her nose, closing her eyes in bliss. It was still the perfect temperature in the water, and already now she wanted to convince James to let them put up a similar at home once this was all over.

The kids were having fun too. It would be hard to convince them to get up even to get something to eat. When the weather perhaps cooled by the evening she would get them out. But just maybe.

She glanced over at Lucius and Narcissa, both swimming a bit away from the kids. How they managed to still look regal in the water was beyond Lily, but they sure as hell made swimming look good.

Bellatrix on the other hand was almost worse than the kids. And the way she had been eyeing Lucius Lily figured hell would break loose any minute.

"Where are James and Sirius and Remus?" Petunia suddenly asked.

"Mmm, getting familiar with the surroundings," Lily mumbled. "Remus is probably enjoying himself, James and Sirius moving around as if Astus will attack them I'm sure. Bloody idiots those two, sometimes. I thought I trained James at least better."

"He's got too thick skull for that," her sister replied. "Give it time. He should ease up, shouldn't he?"

"Either that, or I'll whack him over the head until he's too scared to do anything else." Lily glanced back to the house, seeing Severus leisurely walking down to the lake and noticing Petunia giving the man a hard, long stare. A stare of… longing. Lily choked, stood up and spit out the mouthful of water she had swallowed.

"Tuney," she said slowly and her sister looked over at her. "Do you fancy Severus?"

The resulting blush made Lily laugh, and she swam over to Petunia.

"You do fancy Severus!" she hissed in delight. "Oh my god, you like him!"

"Sshh!" Petunia hissed back, cheeks bright red. "Don't you dare tell him that!"

Lily saw Severus wading into the water, looking over at them and eyes resting a bit longer on Petunia before he swam out. Lily began to giggle hysterically.

"Oh dear," she said, "oh my god! He fancies you!"

"Oh, stop it, Lily. He doesn't."

"He does! He looked at you."

"That's not giving a sign that you fancy someone."

"He gave you a loooong look," Lily sang. "Oh Merlin, you two… why didn't I know this before?"

"Shut up!"

"I must have missed the sign that said this manor also contains teenage romance drama!"

"Seriously…!" Petunia lunged at her.

"Mum! Aunt Petunia!"

Harry and Harrison weren't too far away, and joined the water fight Petunia started. Bellatrix's laughter came over, she following, and somehow she managed to drag Lucius into the whole thing.

As the laughter spread, drifted up to where Astus and Abraxas lay, Astus got his head up and looked down to the lake.

"What are they doing?"

"Water fight," Abraxas replied. "Go back to sleep."

"It's more comfortable than I thought to sleep outside," Astus mumbled.

"As long as you don't make a habit of it. I myself do fancy a bed at night."

"Yes, yes… I might move the bed outside?"

"Alright, I do fancy walls as well, and a door so I can do wicked things to you."

Astus did blush, a faint pinkness covered his cheeks, and he swatted at Abraxas' chest. "I'm so glad Severus wasn't here to hear it."

"Like he would think it was weird."

"That's part of the problem! You've gotten him used to it!"

"I did not."

"You so did," Astus said and poked Abraxas, "and don't come tell me otherwise."

"Ouch, fine, just don't poke me again. You're stronger than you think, remember that."

Astus poked him again, just for the sake of it, and then settled down.

-o-

Lily was surprised at the amount of fun she had during the day. James, Sirius and Remus had eventually ventured to the lake, calm and collected, and Sirius had actually burst out laughing at both the sight of James' shocked face when Bellatrix dunked Lucius under the water, and the event itself. Even Remus had to smile when Lucius emerged, wet and spluttering, giving chase after the woman who was grinning madly. Narcissa had elected to stay out of it, calmly looking on as her sister and husband swam around her, both screaming.

Dinner was served outside, as it was still quite warm, and after that Lily had felt the tiredness moving into her limbs. Still she stayed outside with the others, lanterns being lit as darkness fell around them.

The first to retire this time was her though, with the kids. Draco rose up as well, stretching slowly and moving over to say goodnight to his parents. Lily had only ever seen Draco in public, never at school or with friends, and she hadn't seen him acting much like a child. But as with Lucius, Draco had one façade he showed everyone else, and a completely different one when just being himself. And being himself meant being a very funny child, as well as affectionate with his parents and godfather, Severus. He treated Abraxas and Astus as his grandparents, even though Astus wasn't even related to him.

James and Sirius left not long after Lily did but Remus stayed behind, not feeling very tired yet. The further into the night, he noticed that Astus was getting more energetic. Severus sighed a little seeing his father wander around before saying:

"He's a day-walking vampire, but I guess even they prefer the dark."

"Has it been difficult… adjusting to him being a vampire?" Remus asked gently.

"Not really," the potions master replied and glanced over at him. "Most difficult thing was actually getting him to eat. He didn't want to do it in front of us at first. He didn't want us to see that side of him."

"It must have been hard on you all."

"Yeah, it was. But we got over it. I didn't really give him a chance to hide and eat alone." Severus smiled. "Guess I was acting like a little, annoying brat."

"Yes, you did," Astus suddenly said, leaning over Severus and startling them both. Remus's sharper senses had barely registered him. "But I don't hold it against you. I was a bit of a brat as well."

"Did you ever stop being one?"

"Hey! Yes, I did! Well, occasionally… there's no fun in being all adult-y all the time."

"You did not just say that."

Remus watched them get into an argument, smiling at their antics. Lucius did the same, wrapping an arm around Narcissa whilst Bellatrix ignored them all in favour for building a bonfire.

"I think we need to keep an eye on her," Abraxas said after a while, nodding towards Bellatrix. "Last time we left her without supervision, alone with a fire, things didn't go very well."

"Bloody woman nearly burned down our summer manor," Lucius muttered.

"That bloody woman happens to be my sister, dear," Narcissa said, smiling all the way, to the degree it got scary. "But this time I have to agree. Bella, dear, if you set anything else but that bonfire in flames, I've picked out a lovely spot for you in the cellars!"

"I won't!"

"Well, make sure you don't!"

Bellatrix did not burn anything else, and the colder it got they moved closer to the bonfire, not wanting to go inside just yet. In the end, Remus stayed up half the night with them, rekindling his friendship with Severus.

Abraxas fell asleep nearing two in the morning, Astus's robe over him whilst Astus himself walked the grounds. Petunia had joined Bellatrix building on the fire, although they were more joking and laughing together than actually finding new wood.

They all moved back inside together, nearing three, and Remus found himself too tired to continue the night. The others seemed intent on retiring too.

"Minty," Severus spoke out loud and the house-elf appeared without delay. "We're retiring now. Could you please lock the doors and windows?"

"Of course, master," she replied. "Will you be eating laters tomorrows?"

"A few went to bed before us, so there should be breakfast ready at the normal time as well."

"Minty will see to it."

"No, Minty will close down the manor and then sleep," Severus said. "You work too much."

"Minty wants to!"

"Yes, yes, but sleep a little later this time, alright? Assign one of the others to be in charge for breakfast."

Minty looked ready to pout, but finally nodded and clicked her fingers. They all heard locks in the hall, some rooms beyond and she looked up at them.

"Good nightes then, master," she said. "Minty will be making lunch tomorrows."

"We'll be looking forward to it."

She nodded sharply and disappeared with a slight crack. They all retired to their own rooms, Remus catching sight of Astus and Abraxas holding hands as the blond led the way to the master bedroom. He smiled slightly, and closed the door.

-o-

There weren't many places for a group who still honoured the dark side of magic to go to. Knockturn Alley had after the Dark Lord Voldemort's death been raided several times, and now housed shops that may have some dark items, but not the same as when the war had been going on.

Still, the Ministry wizards couldn't find every place. One of them they couldn't find was one they didn't even know existed. It was settled underground, dark corridors mapping out in incredible labyrinths panning several miles, some suddenly stopping, others shifting to reveal new places, or perhaps trap some poor sod who didn't know how to navigate through the corridors.

Here was the home of many dark wizards who refused to believe in the light's beliefs and their dominance in Wizarding England.

Few of Voldemort's Death Eaters were still free, but mentioning a few it included the Lestrange brothers, infamous for their destructive use of the Cruciatus spell against the innocent, Muggles and magical people alike. Bellatrix Black had in her early youth been engaged to Rodolphus, the elder of them but when she started school and grew older she abruptly withdrew from her parents and vanished when she was supposed to be at home. There was nothing to be done, and when she turned seventeen she broke off the engagement her parents had tried to keep hanging over her head.

The Lestrange brothers were but a few who knew who was behind the disappearance of several dark children who refused to serve Voldemort. Astus Mentis was a name mentioned with hatred in their voices. Knowing he had a child adopted, Severus Snape, born by dark witch Eileen Prince, some had tried to have Severus murdered or at least kidnapped in revenge for him taking away future servants to the dark. But Mentis, a man unknown until he became Severus' father, was also a man of many skills and brutal force when necessary. Astus wasn't purely light, he had seen far too much to be that, but his intense fight against Voldemort had given him the nickname amongst dark wizards as the Nemesis. After Voldemort's death, many from the dark blamed Astus Mentis although he vanished from public. Severus Mentis revealed nothing of his whereabouts, and it was only after Severus had finished school that he had emerged once more.

This time changed, but in ways few saw. Some guessed it. Others knew it. Astus Mentis was no longer a human, but still a fighter against the dark. However, dark wizards and witches knew better than to try attacking him or his best friend, Abraxas Malfoy. One thing was making a statement, another just acting like a complete loon. And you were crazy should you try to attack the Malfoy Manor, or the Prince Manor Severus inherited.

So despite the Nemesis still living, dark wizards and witches lay low, planned. The Ministry grew more lax the longer peace existed. Light families rose, high profiles in the society and slowly they became the targets of the dark side.

The most prominent one was James Potter, his wife and two children. He had no siblings, no relatives, just Lily Evans, a Mudblood and their twin sons. But they were famous. James had the old money of his family, mansions and summer houses at his disposal. Yet he preferred to live in a house no more than a cosy cottage in small Godric's Hollow. That property was the only one somewhat protected, the others were sealed off to both the Potters and intruders. Or it would take the Potters hours to get inside, even in a hurry.

So the dark planned to kill them in a public place, to show they were still there. Still fighting in their lord's name. Some didn't care if they got caught, they just wanted people dead.

But they hadn't succeeded, and then the Potters had vanished along with two friends to the twins and James' best friends from school, Sirius and Remus. There had been another one, Peter Pettigrew but he had died young and James had no contact with his family. There was also Lily's sister, the Muggle Petunia Evans. It was easy to find her house, and track her there to London. Killing her in public would be a nice shout to the Potters that not even Muggle siblings were safe.

One obstacle though. One hell of a big one. Lucius Malfoy. Charismatic, from a dark family and shrouded in mystery, he was a force to reckon with. The group that ran into him whilst trying to get to Petunia Evans had not only failed in killing her, but also failed at getting her later. The house was under lockdown, bearing all the signs of the Malfoy and his friend, Severus Mentis.

That at least gave the dark a lead. Either the Malfoy Manor or the Prince Manor; that was where the Potters were. Why else would they save a Muggle? It was suicide to attack those manors, but sacrifices were needed to make a statement.

And coming one step closer to kill Severus Mentis… that was a too good of an opportunity to pass up on. The dark may not know exactly where Astus Mentis lived nowadays, nor exactly what he was but it was clear Severus was the most important person in his life. People within the dark blamed Astus for Voldemort's death, although most of the Light was blissfully ignorant of that fact, and so they didn't just want him dead anymore. They wanted him in pain, hurting, having to bury his own son.

So they started to plan. Groups were gathered. One did not walk alone up to either of those manors. You walked up as an army, you fought like an army, and they would slay everyone without any mercy. It was time for the dark to reign once more.

-o-

Lily noticed James was twitchy.

"What's wrong?" she said. "It's just breakfast."

"And none of them are here. What are they doing, sleeping? I thought _they _rose early!"

"And I woke up briefly when they went to their rooms. I think that was then anyway… and it was three in the morning! They're probably just sleeping in."

Just as she finished that Lucius came into the dining room, making James and Sirius jump while Draco looked up from the book he and Harrison had been pouring over.

"Dad?" he said, frowning. "Why are you so dressed up?"

"Meeting," the blond moaned. "I completely forgot about it. Well, I could just push it up a couple of days if I really, _really _wanted to, but honestly it's so bloody boring I'd rather have it over with… tea, where's tea?"

Draco poured a cup for his father and Lucius downed it before any milk or sugar got added. He straightened his robe and sighed.

"I'll probably be back late," he said.

"Yeah. You're going to be late now if you get your arse moving."

"I don't want to go… these meetings are so boring, and I hardly say anything…" He tugged on a pair of white gloves, transforming into the aristocratic Lucius Malfoy people were used at seeing. "I left Narcissa asleep, do tell her I said have a nice day."

"I will, dad. You're late now."

"Well, if they bloody insist on having me there, then they can bloody wait." Lucius fiddled with his collar, snatching a scone from his son's plate and rushed away.

Astus met him in the doorway, moved and watched him leave. "Why was he in such a hurry?" he asked.

"Meeting," Draco replied, already back at his book. "Good morning."

"Fine morning as well," the vampire said, sitting down next to the blond. "Aah, but not my type of breakfast…"

He didn't have time to say more before Minty popped into the room and placed a glass in front of him, filled to the brim with dark red liquid. They all knew what it was.

"Thank you, Minty," he said, smiling down at the house-elf.

"Freshly drawn," she replied, "so drink up."

"I will."

James got even twitchier now, but Lily admired how stoic Astus could be about all of it, drinking blood in front of basically complete strangers with the exception of Draco.

"Astus, what does this mean?" Draco asked, pointing down in the book.

The man leaned over, occasionally sipping the blood as he explained, and James's nerves calmed down. Lily just shook her head.

The others started to file in when they were getting ready to leave the table. Astus remained sitting as Abraxas and Severus came in, Severus engrossed in a book and Abraxas trying to manually tame his hair. The blond wore a wrinkled white shirt with the arms rolled up and buttons undone so part of his pale neck could be seen. As he stretched, a silver of his stomach showed, and Lily just wondered what kind of magic kept Abraxas looking this good. He had to be over sixty years old, yet remained in the looks of early forties. And in good shape too.

"Morning," Abraxas said when he finished stretched, swooping down and smiled before kissing Astus on the cheek. "You, good sir, kicked me."

"I didn't mean to."

"What did you dream about to make such a fuss?" the blond asked, sitting down. "You normally sleep very quietly.

"I'm not exactly sure what it was," Astus admitted as he handed over a cup of tea to his lover. "I think Voldemort was in it, but I can't remember if I was running from him, or if I was chasing him around."

"You being you, you probably chased him," Severus said as he finally put aside his book.

"Hmm, well that would be interesting," Astus said, gazing up at the roof. "Voldemort running around in a panic… almost brings a smile to my face."

"Weird."

Astus glared at Severus who just glanced his way before focusing on his cup of tea.

"Anyway, I will see Voldemort again one day."

James looked ready to choke. "What do you mean?" he managed in a somewhat civil tone.

"When I die I mean," Astus said. "I told him that."

"What?"

"Yeah, I told him that," Astus repeated. "I mean, right before he died."

"You were there when Voldemort died?" James said, coming closer. Of course he got interested now. Lily almost rolled her eyes. For hating Voldemort so much, her husband certainly wanted to know a lot about the war he never had a chance to participate in.

"I was the one to kill him," the man said, slightly confused. "Of course I don't go around bragging about it, there's no point bragging about killing someone, but naturally I was there when he died." He looked around the table. "I think I'll have a scone."

James couldn't speak. He tried. Mouth opened and closed, eyes wide. Lily admitted she was shocked as well, and judging on the kids' faces and Sirius's too, they felt the same. She knew Astus was strong, but she hadn't known he had been the one to actually kill Voldemort.

Astus busied himself with the scone, breaking it up in pieces as breakfast continued. Finally Severus was the one to clear his throat, and then he said:

"Are you staying there the whole day or what? Don't you have anything else to do but stare at people?"

James shook himself out of it and managed:

"But… you are… why did you…?"

"I have my reasons as to why I killed Voldemort," Astus said, licking off some butter from his fingers. "I had a personal grudge against him, that's all. And just because I was turning into a vampire when I killed him doesn't mean I automatically agreed with his politics, Mr Potter. Dark creatures are not evil by nature, they are evil by choice. Personally I don't think I have it in me to be evil."

"You'd think it was boring," Severus said.

"Yes, and dark spells are dreadfully annoying to cast. I mean, I only cast Crucio once in my life and I felt like I was having a heart attack!"

"You've never cast dark spells?" Sirius wondered.

"Yes, of course I have but that doesn't mean I like them."

"What about Avada Kedavra?" Hermione suddenly said. "You did mention another of the Unforgivables."

"Ah, yes, the Avada Kedavra. Killing spell. Bright green light and all that silly nonsense. No, I have never cast it. But it's been cast on me a few times. It hurts more than one would think."

"That's because normally people doesn't survive Avada Kedavra so they can tell people it hurts," Severus said.

"Excuse me for not being normal then."

Astus apparently didn't care that people were still staring at him. Draco nicked one of the pieces of the scone, turning page in the book whilst Harrison was amongst those who stared.

"I feel like a zoo animal," was all Astus had to say to make them all wake up.

"You've survived the killing spell?" Lily said.

"By accident I believe. Or luck. There's no skill in avoiding that particular spell. Just got lucky. And I'd rather not have it hit me again. It feels like I'm being hit by a ton of bricks."

"That should at least teach you to duck," Severus said absently.

"Shush you."

-o-

Lily felt lazy later. They hadn't really been doing anything, just sitting around. But cleaning was out of the question. First of all, there was nothing to clean and secondly, she didn't want to face any wrath from Severus's house-elves. She knew how scary house-elves could get if you interfered with what they thought were their territory. Cleaning was definitely one of their territories.

So what should she do? Well, it was very nice outside, and she could bring a book out… Severus had told them they could borrow his books as much as they wanted so there shouldn't be any problems. She'd just keep it away from the lake, where she was sure to find the kids sooner or later.

James and Sirius was still in a bit of a shock that Astus Mentis had been the one to kill Voldemort. Then Sirius had dared to ask how the last fight had been. Astus had told straight up about it, and stressed that it was probably just pure luck Voldemort didn't manage to chop his head straight off. It didn't matter. Both of them, still children at heart, thought it was brilliant. Astus hadn't understood why they thought a fight was brilliant, to which Abraxas had replied:

"Because it was Voldemort you battled, dear. That alone makes it brilliant."

"But Albus has fought him more times than I have," Astus said. "I think… hasn't he?" He looked at Abraxas for confirmation.

"I wouldn't know, but there's a possibility to that. Are you saying that Albus is brilliant too?"

"I guess. I mean, he defeated Grindelwald too. That has to count for something."

Now Lily moved outside, on the terrace that overlooked the grounds, and lay down in the shade with a book from one of the libraries. The kids, as she guessed, was already at the lake, enjoyed its cool temperature in the already hot weather. Draco was with them, and interacting with not just Harrison but the rest as well. Lily smiled at that, glad that he was invited into the group. He wasn't a bad kid.

James joined her not long after that, fitting himself into the deck chair and along her body, and she moved one arm to fit it around his waist.

"What are you reading?" he asked quietly.

"Transfiguration," she replied. "So… have you changed opinions about Astus?"

"He's growing on me," James admitted. "They all are. I mean, I know I'm kind of prejudiced…"

"Kind of?" she asked playfully.

"Shut it. Alright, quite a lot. They just… they don't act the way I thought they would."

"You mean as in you never thought they could have a humour similar to yours and Sirius's?" she said, and he nodded. "I always did tell you Severus were funny. And Lucius was hilarious. You should have seen him in seventh year."

"I saw him. Cold as always."

"I mean the way I saw him. When he studied for his final exams, by God did I laugh." She was grinning just remembering it. "He acted like a complete loon."

"Well, he never did like tests."

The softly spoken sentence made them both jump, and Narcissa smiled down at them. "Oh, I hope I didn't frighten you," she continued. "Lucius tells me it's a terrible habit I have, sneaking up on people."

"You're very good at it."

Astus's voice made her jump, and he grinned sheepishly.

"And you good sir, are apparently very good at it too," she said mildly.

"Oh, it's recent," Astus reassured her. "When I was young, I could trip over my own feet. Severus at three years had more grace than I did."

"That's because you were sleep-deprived and starving yourself," Abraxas added as he came outside.

"Not all the time," Astus protested.

"Just ninety percent of the time, I'll be sure to note that down," the blond replied. "Honestly, it was like you had never heard the word dinner back then."

"I wasn't hungry!"

Abraxas beckoned him over to the same deck chair they had been dozing off on the day before, and Astus allowed himself to be dragged down. The sun shone directly at them until Abraxas could adjust one of the sunshades. Narcissa sat down at another one, crossing her legs.

"You mean to say you didn't eat?" James asked carefully.

"I wasn't sick, I didn't try to starve myself," Astus defended himself hotly. "I just forgot."

"Forgot what food was, or the fact you were hungry?"

"The latter, you dolt!" Astus whacked Abraxas over the head. "I was busy!"

"Fending off Dark Lords and crazy followers I imagine," Severus stated, having listening in on the conversation. Not that they had been quiet. "Oh, and of course, you always remembered to feed me."

"That's different," Astus said, waving his finger around. "You made sure I never forgot when _you _were hungry, thank you very much."

"Are you implying I whined about it?"

"More like wailed, but whine works."

Severus rolled up the papers he was holding and hit his father over the head before taking a seat next to them.

"Cissy," came Bellatrix's voice, "is this too skimpy for me?"

What she came out wearing could not be called a dress. Sirius was choking on his breath behind her, and Petunia rolled her eyes as she came outside, dressed in a skirt and top. Lily didn't miss Severus' lingering glance at Petunia, and giggled before returning to look at Bellatrix.

"What… exactly is it?" Narcissa had to ask.

"It's a dress, of course!"

"Well… it's missing a few things."

"Like what?"

"Like a decent cover of your… well, your front," Narcissa said, gesturing at Bellatrix's visible underwear. "Are you sure it's a dress?"

"Quite sure. More straps then?"

"Maybe more fabric," the blonde woman suggested. "You'll be cold otherwise."

"Hmm, maybe you're right," Bellatrix said. "Alright, I'll have it redone a little!"

She whirled around, wild hair flying, and dashed further into the house. Sirius stumbled outside, staring after his cousin.

"Don't say it," Narcissa spoke. "We already know."

"She doesn't really dress the normal way," Severus added.

"Be glad she even dresses," Petunia said. "I remember the time when she didn't bother."

"Please, don't speak more of it," Severus pleaded. "She scared half of the house-elves to death running around in just her underwear."

"Didn't she take off her bra at one point?" Astus wondered. "Or did she just do that to annoy us?"

"Bella rarely does things that we understand the meaning off," Narcissa said. "Let's just leave her alone."

"That's probably a good idea," Astus confessed and lay back on the deck chair, this time with Abraxas curled up next to him. "Are you comfortable, love?"

"Very much so," Abraxas mumbled.

"That's good."

Time slipped by them again. The hours trickled by. Bellatrix came back, more decently dressed. Severus went back inside to check on some potions in the lab. Abraxas and Astus more or less dozed, sleeping curled up around one another. James still sat with Lily, but spoke to Sirius while she was reading the book. Petunia was working on a tan, Bellatrix whispering in her ear, making her laugh.

It was after lunch, well into the afternoon but not quite yet dinner when they all heard the front doors open. With a bang. A heavy bang. The only one who had left the manor was Lucius.

Lily wasn't surprised when Narcissa was the first through the door, back into the manor and making her way to the hall. The others swiftly followed, but they were all shocked by what met them.

Lucius leaned against the doors, bloodied and cradling an obviously broken arm, the wrist twisted and purple, fingers blue from the loss of blood. Narcissa was already at his side, Severus soon there too and they helped him over to a chair Astus transfigured from a vase.

"What happened?" Severus asked even as Abraxas called for Minty for potions.

"Attacked," Lucius said, wincing as the potions master touched the broken arm. "Rebellions. Bloody idiots. They called me a blood-traitor, having helped the Mudblood's sister when I clearly should have helped them having the Potters killed."

"A rather busy afternoon," Narcissa said, but while her tone was light her eyes were hard and cold as stone.

"Yes, pity you missed it," Lucius said. "I'm not sorry to say I killed five of them before the rest fled like cowards. And all they managed was to break my arm."

"Well, that's good they only managed that," Abraxas stated. "Had there been anything more severe, I would already be delving into your memory, find out their faces and go to slaughter them."

"I doubt they will show themselves anytime soon," the blond said, hissing as Narcissa started to clean a cut on his brow. "As I said, cowards."

"And I believe we need Poppy for this," Severus said, gesturing at the arm. "I'm not trying to set it back straight without her aid."

"I'll call for her," Astus said and moved away.

"And we are getting you back to your room," the potions master continued. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"Scratches, that's all," Lucius said as he was helped to stand up. "And sore muscles. My back will hurt later."

Abraxas peeled off the outer robe, ripping the arm apart instead of trying to guide the broken arm through it, and threw it over his shoulder as they moved Lucius to the second floor. Minty ran after them, potions in her arms.

Lily followed too, while James and Sirius held the kids, with the exception of Draco, back. The blond teen ran past Lily, closely following his parents and Severus. Lily only hesitated for a moment at the guestroom before walking inside.

The décor was dark but cosy, fitting the Malfoys. The large bed was placed in one of the corners, and Narcissa was already on it, helping her husband down whilst Severus held the broken arm steady. Draco sat near Lucius's feet, one hand clamped down on his father's ankle. Abraxas stroke his son's long hair, getting the strands into some sort of order. It was partly bloodied, apparently still damp in places.

"Oh, that smarts," Lucius groaned, shifting. Abraxas immediately stopped. "No, not that, dad, that's fine but bloody hell, I must have hit that wall harder than I imagined."

"Minty."

She held out a pain reliever the moment Severus said her name and he helped his friend swallow it. Soon his frown lessened, and Lucius relaxed into the pillows. Lily noticed now he had a split lip, and a darkening bruise around his throat. He had gotten hurt because of her, because of her family and she felt cold, all the way into the bones. Lucius Malfoy had been _attacked _for helping her family.

Sharp, clapping steps woke her up, and one Madam Pomfrey appeared in the doorway, apparently having been led there by Astus.

"Dear Merlin," she muttered, coming inside. "And what have you been doing now, young man?"

"Battle in a narrow alley," Lucius said. "Not the smartest move on my part, but I didn't want to involve any innocent bystanders."

"Terrible break," she said, "terrible one. What happened to twist it around?"

"I kind of… well, one of them tried to flee and I just grabbed him, and one thing led to the other." Lucius gazed down at his arm. "I can't really feel my fingers."

"Temporary," Poppy replied. "Have you given him something for the pain?"

"Yes," Severus said in answer to her inquiry. "Do you need some room?"

"Yes, please."

Lily couldn't tear her eyes from it. Lucius sat quietly as Poppy began to move his broken bones back into place. Draco had looked away though, even moved to Severus's side and now hid his face in the man's shoulder. Severus looped an arm around the teen's shoulders, standing quietly and slowly stroking Draco's short hair.

"There," Poppy said a few minutes later. "Now, just to stabilize the wrist…" She splinted it, wrapped the arm up and set it down gently on a pillow. "Should be right as rain in a few days."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Lucius said, somewhat sleepily. "Oh dear… Severus, do you have a sleeping potion in your pain relievers?"

"Some," he said. "In yours, yes. Get some rest."

"Doesn't look like I got much of a choice…"

Poppy took Severus aside while Narcissa beckoned Draco over. Lucius held out his unharmed hand, smiling softly at them before closing his eyes. Lily felt like she was intruding and quietly backed out.

"Is Mr Malfoy alright?" Hermione asked as she came back down.

"He will be fine. He's asleep right now," she said.

"I wonder who was stupid enough to attack him," Harrison said. "Shouldn't everyone know never to mess with a guy like Mr Malfoy?"

"People sometimes don't care about that," Lily said. "They do it anyway, great, big idiots that they are."

"But he'll be fine?" Hermione persisted.

"He'll be just fine, Hermione. Don't worry."

It just occurred to Lily that this was probably the first time the kids saw someone that injured at close range. James had gotten hurt at a few raids with him being an Auror, but never severely, and he always made sure to have cleaned up before he came back home. Hermione having spent weeks at a time at their house ever since befriending the twins at school, she had probably never seen injuries like Lucius's.

"Can't believe someone actually attacked him," James said, coming into the hall. "I mean, he's _the _Malfoy. The guy who addresses the minister by first name. He should be untouchable."

"No one is."

Severus's voice made them all jump. He came downstairs with Poppy next to him.

"Make sure he rests," the healer said. "I mean it! Lucius Malfoy is not the kind of person to lie around wasting away days at a time, but keep him in bed today, and tomorrow. Let him move around a little, but I want him resting."

"Minty can ties him up," the house-elf, who had trailed after them, suggested.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Severus said. "Thank you again, Poppy."

"Oh, please. What wouldn't I do for you boys? Oi, Astus, there you are! Let me check you over while I'm already here."

"Must you?" Astus whined. "I hate check-ups."

"Minty, you may tie him up now," the healer told the house-elf.

"Alright, fine, fine! Check me then, but don't start poking at me again. It's annoying."

"Should I be jealous?" Abraxas added, coming downstairs. "I gave them a bit of space. I think Draco's in a bit of a shock."

"Well, who wouldn't be seeing their father like that?" Poppy said, then glanced over at Severus. "I remember another time…"

"Yes, we know that time," Severus said. "I was upset… alright?"

"Yes, of course." Poppy ushered Astus upstairs.

"What?" Lily said. "What is she talking about?"

"I reacted rather badly when we believed father was dead," Severus said.

"Please, don't remind me," Abraxas said, holding up a hand. "I don't need to be reminded of that day."

"None of us do."

The two men vanished before anyone could get anything more out of them, and Minty scurried after Severus.

The manor remained quiet after that. The children opted to be outside, but the atmosphere was more subdued. Even Bellatrix calmed down a bit, after of course yelling that she would tear the rebellions apart. Despite her and Lucius constantly being on each other's nerves, they were good friends.

Petunia stayed outside with the kids and Lily, Petunia playing with the boys and Lily carefully braiding Hermione's hair while the girl was doing homework.

It took a while for them both to realize Draco was there. He had appeared quietly, sat down on one of the chairs and stared over at where the twins and Ron played Muggle soccer with Petunia.

"Draco?" Lily said. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," he said, not rudely. "Mum's coming down soon. Dad probably won't wake up until later. Uncle Sev's potions are really effective."

"Tell me about it," Lily said with a smile. "He's always been good at them."

Draco nodded. "Is that soccer?"

"Yes. Have you played it before?"

The blond shook his head. "I heard Astus mention it once or twice when talking to Petunia. I usually play Quidditch with dad and uncle Sev."

"Professor Mentis plays Quidditch?" Hermione asked.

"He's quite good at it. So is Astus. He's a natural Seeker. Grandfather prefers to watch."

"Do you play other sports?"

"Not really. I mean, I'm in the Quidditch team at Hogwarts, but that's more of a hobby for me," Draco said. "Don't let Harry or… Ron know that."

Painfully aware of Harry's and Ron's near obsession with the game, both Lily and Hermione nodded. Harrison, being in Ravenclaw, didn't have to hear them rant about it during the school year as much as Hermione had to, and he wasn't even interested in the game.

"Draco?"

Narcissa was out, a tray in her hands. "Minty insisted. Ice tea. She was going for the hot cocoa before remembering the weather. There's enough for you too."

She addressed Lily and Hermione, and the four of them ended up sharing the cool drink.

"Hopefully your father will feel much better when he wakes up," Narcissa said as she sat down behind her son. "We cleaned him up a bit, and changed clothes."

"He'll be furious," Draco said.

"Naturally. He's a Malfoy; they don't like to lose."

"He didn't lose," the teen said and looked back at her.

"Well, he didn't really win either," she reminded.

Draco nodded after a bit and went back to watch the boys and Petunia.

Dinner was eaten, well, everywhere. Minty and her staff had no troubles, nor issues, to distribute meals throughout the manor. Lily, her family and Sirius and Remus ate it outside. Narcissa and Draco ate in Narcissa's and Lucius's guestroom. Abraxas and Astus, god knows where they ate but it appeared Severus had taken his meal in the lab. Bellatrix ate hers walking around the manor, occasionally getting a new idea how to torture the rebellions and laughing about it. Lily's only worry was that the woman might choke on the food she was trying to chew.

"Bloody hell, what a day, and nothing even happened to us," James said later, after dessert Minty had insisted on. "I feel useless, sitting here and doing nothing while others fight for us. Gets hurt for us. And I didn't even like Malfoy!"

"Didn't like? Does it mean you like him now?" Lily said.

"Well… it's hard to really, really dislike a man who gets into a water-fight with his sister-in-law, and keeping score on the wins and losses," James admitted. "Guess… I was being my usual self, meaning a prick, and assumed he was bad."

"See," she said and tweaked her husband's nose, "you should listen to me more often. I could have told you he was good years ago."

"You did tell me years ago. You told me in school. I just refused to listen."

"That's because you were and are an idiot."

"Thank you, honey," James said. "You have such a way with words."

"I know. I'm the best."

It was a while later that Abraxas came out alone, with a book and a glass of wine.

"Where's Astus?" Lily wondered.

"He appears to have wandered off. I'm sure he'll be back by tonight."

"He went out," Severus said, coming out as well and stretching. "I saw him leave through the Floo."

"Oh well… he comes and goes as he likes," Abraxas stated. "Did you hear where he was going?"

"No."

"We'll find out later then, I guess."

They all settled down. Lily wasn't too worried. She hadn't seen Astus fight, but as a vampire he had the advantage of physical strength, and he must be good with his magic if he had killed Voldemort. The former Dark Lord had been renowned for his magical skills, so Astus must have known something to be able to gain the upper hand.

-o-

Meanwhile, at Hogwarts:

Albus had been reading when he quite suddenly realized that he wasn't alone. He couldn't see anyone, but knew someone was there. Finally he got up and looked around. No one to see, yet knowing someone was there… that usually only meant one person.

"Astus, is that you?" he asked out loud.

The fire flickered, the flames moved. Its shadow began to twist, a shape came out of it and Astus came up from it, smiling before seating himself in the chair in front of Albus's desk.

"Good evening, headmaster. Still working at this hour?"

"Work is never done. How is everyone? I heard of the attack on Lucius."

"He's fine, and so is everyone else. His arm broke, so we called for Poppy."

"Yes, she mentioned that," Albus said as he called for tea and a snack. "An unfortunate event. We just didn't think anyone of the rebellions would dare to strike at Lucius Malfoy."

"They know he helps us. Perhaps they wish to make a stand. In regards of them, are you any closer at finding the ones who wants the Potters dead?"

"We are having some difficulties at that. What I wish to ask is if this is out of genuine concern that you are asking, or just curiosity?"

"You know very well that I've lived two different lives. In my first one I never knew my parents, but that didn't mean I didn't love them. Now I got a whole new family, my parents alive but practically strangers. That doesn't mean I care any less. After all, Lily and James are turning out to be very nice, even James now that he's warmed up to us."

"Of course." The tea and snacks arrived. "The rebellions are good at covering their tracks, that's why we're having some troubles."

"Voldemort was good at it too, and I found him. Everyone makes mistakes. They'll make one soon."

"They are also more cautious than him. You and I both know he was all in for the dramatics. Why would they risk attacking Lucius?"

"Because they're idiots." Astus stole a biscuit and nibbled on it. "We all are. Thinking we're immortals. Overstepping boundaries, acting all tough and overconfident."

"At least you more or less are immortal."

"No one's immortal, Albus," Astus said, glancing around in the office. "You know I've survived Avada Kedavra. But I think one of those times, it actually killed me."

"Killed you? How do you mean?" Astus had shared his past with Albus long ago, when Severus was still a young child but Astus hadn't gone into any details unless strictly necessary.

"I remember it very clearly." Astus intertwined his fingers, resting them in his lap. "Voldemort, his wand directed at me. I didn't fight back. Didn't reach for one myself. I just stood there, one minute I was in the Forbidden Forest about to be hit by the spell, and in the next I woke up in a very white, calm place. It looked like King's Cross. And you were there."

"I was?"

"Yes. At the time, I didn't know what to think. All in all, it had been a very long day. Losing friends, seeing supposed enemies throw themselves into the line of fire to protect the ones they're supposed to kill. Seeing you, who had been dead for a year back then, was just the icing on the cake. Oh, all this time-travelling… I completely forgot, back then is still in the future this time around. Not that I intend to let you die that way again."

"Oh, how kind of you. I don't fancy dying just yet. So, what happened at King's Cross?"

"I had a choice. I could go back, naturally, be the _hero_ and save everyone's day. Or I could have… waited for a train. There would have been one, I know that. I could have waited for it, and gotten on it. Moved on. By that I guess I could have chosen to die. For a moment I was really tempted you know. I wanted to step on one of those trains and just go."

"So why didn't you?"

"Well, for one I think I was born as an idiot trying to be a hero around the clock," he deadpanned, making Albus laugh. "And second, Voldemort was alive. I couldn't just leave it at that. Too many had died. They had lost too much,_ I_ had lost too much… people I had known for years and years were just gone. Even Severus, the evil bat from the dungeons."

Albus smiled a little at that.

"I hated him," Astus said and clawed at the chair all of a sudden. He forced himself to sit still. "But then when he was lying there, dying, blood everywhere and that look in his eyes… that horrible, lonely, _pained _look, I didn't hate him anymore. All he wanted to see was my eyes. The eyes Lily gave me. He really loved Lily, that Severus. He loved her so much for so many years… his whole life actually."

"You didn't want to let him die in vain. You didn't want to let anyone of them die in vain."

"This brings me back to the fact I was probably born as an idiot. I protected everyone, and they just shoved me in front of them. Their hero… a boy who didn't even know how to speak when he somehow defeated the greatest of all evil dark lords. What a fucked up story."

"You are here now," Albus said. "With what I understand a rather good life."

"Yes, probably. Beside the fact I got myself turned into a vampire," Astus said. "Idiotic, once more. Thank god Severus isn't my biological son, it probably runs through my veins. But other than that, I'm hoping and believing everyone's lives turned out better."

"From what you told me all those years ago, it definitely looks that way."

"And on top of that, I even managed to get to know Lucius' dad, and have him not killed in the process. I call that success."

"Speaking of Abraxas…"

"No, I am not telling you what we do in the bedroom," Astus pointed out, making Albus laugh while a smile curled up on Astus' own lips.

"I wasn't going to ask! What I meant to ask is his body. It seems to be rather young even for wizard standard."

"I… might be part of that reason," Astus said, glancing away. "I'm not having him dying on me due to old age, you know. But he's human. I haven't bitten him or anything. He's just… not going to die that easily."

"Do I even want to know how you managed to do that?" the headmaster wondered, steeping his fingers together under his chin.

"Probably not."

"Please tell me you didn't break any laws for it."

"I didn't. I generally don't bother with rules and laws, I'm awful at following them anyway, but this time I didn't do anything illegal." Astus smiled at Albus. "Promise."

"I'll have to take your word for it." Albus sipped at the tea, having previously been forgotten by them both. "We'll do better tomorrow. Try harder. Find them."

"Good. Because if they're stupid enough to attack Lucius Malfoy, they are definitely mad enough to attack our homes."

"That wouldn't surprise me. The rebellions have always been restless, but it's just lately that they've began acting out."

"James has risen amongst the others. His name is old, and rich. He's a pillar. Crush the pillar and you start to crumble the rest."

"But why _now_? He's been in that spot for years."

"A powerful wizard, at the prime of his life," Astus said. "Bested by the dark. Killed by the dark. Nothing kills hope faster than that."

"Of course. James is at his strongest now. If they take him out, they make a statement of power."

Astus nodded and was quiet for a bit. Then he said:

"Do you have any need for Severus that requires him to leave the grounds?"

"No, I don't think so. Why?" the aged headmaster wondered.

"The rebellions don't know the truth, but they are blaming me for their master's death," Astus said. "I'm the worst enemy. I took the children of the dark future from them when I was younger, and even now I'm a thorn in their side. But to truly cause me damage, they wouldn't go after me."

"I see," Albus said. "They'd go after the person that means the most to you."

"Severus. I can't let _anything _happen to him. I'll lose it if someone puts as much as s scratch on his skin." Astus rose up now, walked around the room. "So I'd like to keep him close."

"You need to lay down more wards on the manor then. If what you said earlier is true, the rebellions will try to attack. No matter how powerful your wards are, they are still not rooted enough into the grounds. The Malfoy home might perhaps be better. The wards there have had many years to grow into the grounds. Or even here, at Hogwarts."

"We'll be fine," Astus said. "Severus's house may not look like it, but it's ready for a battle any day. The Malfoy manor and the school aren't. Well, the school probably is but she's too big. Too vast. Too many openings. At home, we know it. How to get in. How to get out. Should the rebellions attack, they won't stand a chance."

"They are great in numbers."

"And you'll be alerted if we're attacked, so basically all we need to do is to keep them at bay until you arrive with enforcements."

"I suppose so," Albus said. "Very well. I see your point. But be careful."

"You forget we got Abraxas and Narcissa," Astus said with a grin. "Their power doesn't lie in attacking. They are much better at simply locking people away."

With that, he saluted, making Albus laugh again, and vanished through the fireplace.

Tbc…

* * *

Oh my god, my hands are killing me! Wrote the last eight or nine pages in one sitting.

I sincerely hope you enjoyed this very late chapter. Let's all hope I don't let you wait this long again ^^

Chapter five: Preparations are made to the manor should an attack come. Meanwhile, the rebellions start making their move…!

Look forward to it!

Until later,

Ja,

Tiro


	5. Chapter 5

**Changed Future**

**Summary**: Sequel to Rewriting History. A threat against the Potter family lets them inside the Prince Manor, where Severus Mentis lives… along with a guest in the shadows. Slash.

**Pairing/s**: AbraxasAstus and some couples from the books.

**Warnings**: Slash, some violence.

**Disclaimers**: I don't own Harry Potter.

-o-

I'm just shameless, aren't I? Making you guys wait this long. There is simply no excuse but my own inspiration latching onto other things. My apologies (I tend to get carried away with new interests). I do hope you enjoy this chapter anyway!

-o-

**Chapter Five**

Lily woke up to another day hearing a commotion outside the door. Getting up from the very comfortable bed, making sure Hermione hadn't been disturbed, the woman went out in the hallway with a robe over her night clothes. She walked over to the stairs, and coming there she nearly collided with Bellatrix who was carrying a…

"What is that?" Lily couldn't help but ask.

"Cauldron," Bellatrix answered.

"Yes, I can see that, but what's _inside_?"

"Oh, the smokey thingy?" she asked with a grin. "A potion. I'm taking it up on the roof."

"What kind of potion?"

"Oh, the painful kind. Astus made it. You know, we're preparing for an attack."

"An attack?!"

"Well, we don't know if they actually _will _attack, but better be safe than sorry!" Bellatrix cackled after that and ran up to the third floor.

Lily stared after her.

"Really, it's just pre-cautions, no need to look that worried."

She jumped, whirled around and came face to face with a smiling Narcissa. She wasn't carrying a cauldron. However, she was carrying a staff. Lily stared up at it, then at the blonde woman.

"That's for warding," Lily stated, ever the information-gatherer. In that aspect, she and Hermione were very similar to each other.

"Oh, you can tell?"

"Yep. You do warding?"

"Yes, me and Abraxas, we're trained for it," Narcissa said. "Honestly, people think that I'm just a society lady, when I've got papers that enable me to work with wards."

"You… got that?"

"Of course. Abraxas is the one who got me into all of it. Rather interesting, really. Well, I better get going. I'm going to add a few surprises to the existing wards, just in case."

With that, she moved on too. Lily walked downstairs and found Severus above the front doors, scribbling runes onto the wall.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Extra protection," Severus said. "Good morning. People usually try to get into a house by the doors first, naturally, so should someone not allowed in here try, they'll get a nasty surprise."

"What kind of nasty surprise?"

"I don't think you would like to know that."

"It's better if you don't ask."

People were really making her jump today, and this time she turned to see Lucius. His arm in a sling, a bruise on his jaw, a cut near his collarbone… he didn't look all that well.

"Lucius, you should rest some more," Severus said, turning to look at them. Lily didn't even know how he held himself there, at least nine feet off the ground.

"I'll do it later."

"Well, later might mean we are under attack and I would rather have you well-rested for it," Severus said, dropping down to the ground as he was finished. "Have you seen my father?"

"Potions lab. Mumbling something… I didn't go too close."

"Probably a good idea. And Abraxas?"

"Asleep, most likely," Lucius said, shrugging a little. "I haven't seen him at least."

"Oh, alright. Narcissa is adding a few surprises onto the wards," Severus said, "and Bellatrix is installing some potion dad made. I asked what it was, and he told me not to ask again. So I assume it will hurt, it's dangerous, and could possible be classed as illegal."

"Not that Astus ever had a problem with bending the laws and rules a bit," the blond said.

"Honestly? I don't think he bloody cares."

Astus came from the potions lab, holding two cauldrons that were both steaming. Lily stared at him. Severus raised an eyebrow, and Lucius backed away.

"What's he doing up?" Astus asked, managing to point at Lucius whilst holding one cauldron with just a few fingers. "You should be resting."

"I will! Soon."

"Now, please. Abraxas would be most upset if you continue to exhaust yourself."

"Dear God, you sound like my father."

"He isn't here to say it himself," Astus reminded. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I got some potions to rig up. I believe Bellatrix will be more than happy to aid me. Minty!"

The house-elf popped up next to him and Astus bent down.

"Abraxas will be waking up soon. Could you perhaps serve him some breakfast in the bedroom? I promise you he's decently dressed."

At the last comment, Minty got a slight blush before nodding and rushing off to the kitchen. At the word breakfast, Lily realized how hungry she was and her stomach growled. Loudly.

"I believe some breakfast is in order, judging by that sound," Lucius said. Lily blushed, even as he just smiled at her a bit. "Have you already eaten, Severus?"

"No, I just drank a cup of tea with Narcissa and Bellatrix earlier."

"Well, are you going to put anything more upon your doors or will you join us?"

"I suppose I can."

While Astus moved to get the potions set up Severus, Lucius and Lily walked to the dining room where they were served breakfast. Lily woke up more after tea and scones, and inquired about the original wards, if they weren't enough.

"Oh, they can handle a fair bit," Severus said. "Dad and Abraxas did something similar at Malfoy Manor when we were younger."

"However, it took them a hell of a long time to say exactly what the wards did should some idiot try to break in," Lucius replied. "I probably asked a hundred times before father ever gave a hint."

"Fire was one thing," Severus remembered.

"Fire?" Lily repeated.

"The wards put themselves on fire, or something like that," the potions master said. "So whoever tried to get in got a firewall instead."

"A very, _very _real firewall," Lucius continued.

"So why are you putting on more protection?" Lily asked.

"Because we're paranoid," Severus replied. "The whole lot of us."

"Just look at what happened to me," Lucius said. "I wasn't paranoid enough."

"We'll be sure to remedy that in the future," the potions master said. "We'll become overly paranoid."

"Attacking anything that moves," Lucius agreed. "Like complete loons with no moral compass whatsoever."

"Are you two always like this?" Lily questioned. "You're almost as bad as James and Sirius."

"You're James then, Lucius," Severus stated.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to."

"What if I don't want to?"

Severus leaned back in his chair. "Then I suppose we'll just let James be James."

"I don't think anyone but James can be James," Lily confessed.

"I think she's right," Lucius told Severus.

They finished their breakfast in peace before Lucius was shooed back to his room for some more rest, and Severus went through the house checking the windows. Lily, with nothing else to do, walked up to the roof, guided by one of the house-elves she had hesitantly called for. It wasn't Minty, apparently she was busy but this little one was called Gina and more than happy to drag Lily up to the roof.

Once up there, Lily couldn't do more than stare. She could actually _see _the wards surrounding the grounds. She stepped closer to the edge of the roof. A line cutting through the grass, faintly blue colour, and the wards shot straight up in the air. For how far? She couldn't tell. It was amazing.

"We're testing it, that's why you can see it."

Astus' voice made her jump and turn around. He looked rather amused at her reaction.

"Don't scare me like that," she chided.

"Sorry. I have a tendency to scare people."

That was probably true. Just saying he was a vampire should be enough. But she had never been scared of him, not even when it was revealed. Lily knew she was one of the few who wasn't scared, and that was the sad part. Astus was such a good person too.

"What else are you doing?" she asked after a few moments of silence.

"Nothing much now. We've added a few tricks, and if someone by chance manages to get inside the wards, they'll get some nasty surprises."

"And we like the nasty," Bellatrix suddenly said, leaning over Lily's shoulder and grinning.

"You like the nasty," Astus corrected. "Once upon a time I wanted to live in just a small cottage with a little herb garden, and what do I get? I become a vampire and move into a mansion that gets attacked by stupid people, which we then curse to hell. That's not the life I envisioned for myself!"

"Well, it's the life you're stuck with so deal with it. You're good at the nasty."

"Don't call it 'nasty', Bella, that sounds so wrong," Astus begged.

"Oh, should I call what you and Abraxas do in the bedroom for the nasty instead?" she wondered.

"No!" Astus said. "That's what children say when they realize grown-ups do have a sex life."

"So what should I say?" she purred.

"How about nothing?" Narcissa came over to them. "Honestly, Bella, we need to find you a husband so you will stop about other people's sex-lives. You're deprived."

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are. You've been making more sex jokes these last few days than you have done for a whole month," the blonde woman said. "It's not healthy. Whatever happened to that nice man you met last year?"

"He couldn't deal with my leather pants," Bellatrix dead-panned.

"You mean leather panties," Narcissa corrected. "And you probably shouldn't have jumped him wearing those and _nothing else_."

"Oh dear god," Astus mumbled and buried his face in his hands as he began to walk away, "please save me from that mental image. Anyone, please, just stop it. Have people attack, I don't mind."

Lily burst out laughing.

"You're laughing at my leather panties?" Bellatrix demanded to know. "I'll have you know they are very comfortable!"

"Too much information!" Astus yelled at her.

-o-

All jokes aside, Lily did notice that they all got very serious soon. By the time the others were up, a thin thread of tension lay around the manor.

Astus escaped to the safety of his room and Abraxas, whom Lily caught a glimpse of still in bed before the door closed. Narcissa went to check on Lucius but the man was asleep and so she had taken to wander the corridors. Bellatrix was pacing, muttering to herself which apparently was just the usual business even on days they weren't at the point they could get attacked by rouge wizards and witches.

Severus had been in the living room, one of them, reading but kept his wand by the elbow, and not looking particularly like he was relaxing. Lily had gone and collected her wand, kept it safely against her arm and attempted to join in on some reading. She mostly sat and looked out of the window, at the green grass outside, the blue sky.

"Did we worry you?"

She looked over at Severus. "The others don't know," he explained. "Your husband and his friends must think we are our usual pratty selves."

"They're the prats," she replied. "No, they know something's up. I didn't tell them much but they could tell with all the tension in the air. James is not that thick, plus even if he was Remus would notice and tell him and Sirius about it. The kids are the ones not knowing. Well, I don't know about Draco…"

"Narcissa would tell if he asked," he confirmed. "Sometimes he asks. Sometimes he let us be. Both for our sake and his own."

Narcissa entered the room, paced around them three times before Severus managed to stop her.

"Stop walking, you're making me nervous," he said. "And don't wring your hands like that."

She sat down, smoothed out the fabric of her dress and cleared her throat. But she didn't speak. Instead she cleared her throat again, and then sighed.

"I hate waiting for something that might not happen," she stated.

"So relax for just the tiniest bit," Severus replied. "The alarms will sound the moment the wards are hit, we'll have time to prepare then. No, Narcissa," she had opened her mouth and now shut it, "we are not going to go into a panic then and try set some traps up, the traps have been set and all the preparation is done. _Relax_."

"You relax," she hissed.

"I'm _trying _to. You're making it difficult."

"Oh… oh, tea. I'll call for some tea."

Instead of calling for a house-elf, she left the room, presumably to go to the kitchen. Severus sighed.

"Forgive Narcissa. She doesn't cope well with waiting."

"Who does?" Lily replied with. "What is the probability that they'll attack us?"

"If they are foolish enough, they will attack despite knowing whose manor they are attacking," Severus answered. "Had we been in Malfoy manor, I'm not sure they would've dared, but I fear your dear husband would have died of a fear-induced heart attack had he been dumped in there."

"Probably."

"Not that I see why. Lucius' home is quite lovely."

"Does Abraxas live there?"

"Mostly," the potions master said and put aside the book he had been trying to read. "Lucius wouldn't let him move out. Sometimes he lives here though, with dad. And at other times, both of them disappear to some little cottage dad bought some years ago. You know, so they can be all by themselves. I swear to god, those two… they've been together for such a long time, and yet they still act like people newly in love. Same with you and Lucius, Narcissa."

"Same with us what?" Narcissa wanted to know.

"Newly in love. You and Lucius."

"Is there something wrong with that?" Narcissa asked as she sat down and began to pour up tea. "Lucius does like his little romantic gestures." Here she smiled a little.

"Like a weekend in Paris?" Severus said. "Just the two of you?"

Lily saw the woman blush, just the tiniest bit. "Well… you see…"

"You do those weekends a fair bit," the potions master continued with. "Newly weds. You two, forever newly weds. I'm the one who gets Draco suddenly dumped on me by Lucius before he goes to sweep you off your feet."

"It's nice," she protested. "And you don't mind having Draco here."

"Yeah, he's fine."

"Besides, you're just jealous."

Severus choked on his tea and coughed. "What?" he implored.

"You're just jealous. Why don't you just go and grab _her_?"

This time it was Severus blushing, and he ducked his head down. Lily looked at Narcissa, then back at Severus, at Narcissa again.

"Her?" she asked.

"Yes," Narcissa dragged out. "_Her_."

"Stop talking."

Narcissa smiled.

"Stop _smiling_," Severus growled.

The blonde woman smiled even wider.

"That's it. I'm going. Going now. Don't you dare continuing talking about it after I'm gone."

"As you wish, Severus," she said, and giggled.

"I'm serious."

"No, you're not," Lily said suddenly, out of the blue. "He said he was going to be with James and Remus."

Narcissa and Severus stared at her. Then they both chuckled, and the tense mood was gone.

"Did Potter teach you that?" Severus wondered.

"Oh, believe me, I've heard loads of those jokes ever since school." Lily waved at him. "Don't worry, I won't make her talk about anything."

Severus glanced at Narcissa who just hid her smile behind her hand. Then he grumbled, and left the room. Narcissa turned to Lily who held up a hand.

"Believe me, I think I already know who you were talking about. She can't seem to go and grab him herself. And oh my god, I can't believe I just said that about my own sister…" Lily buried her face in her hands.

Narcissa just smirked.

-o-

Astus stumbled onto the Potter twins and their two friends on the second floor, in one of the libraries. He had left Abraxas getting ready, and was just wandering around when he quite literally bumped into a bushy-haired girl.

Before Hermione could fall, he grabbed her shoulders, and she stared up at him. First with initial fear, then with some wariness, and he quickly let her go before smiling slightly.

"Apologies," he said.

"Me too. I wasn't watching…"

"Well, me neither. Call it even."

She nodded and the three boys came in, Ron immediately defensive. Then he relaxed slightly seeing who it was. Hermione had by then relaxed as well.

Suddenly James's voice rang out and Harry swore.

"What should we do? It won't be any fun if dad catches us this soon!" he declared. "You, any ideas?!"

Astus pointed at himself.

"Yeah, you!"

He did have a plan.

And so when James came running, hair in a most hideous green shade, Astus couldn't help but stare at it. Sirius followed, with equally bad result of hair.

"Have you seen my sons? They're paying for this!" James demanded.

As a response, Astus pointed to the roof. James looked up. There was nothing there.

"Are you playing a joke on me?" James asked.

"Well, Albus always did say I was rather good at it," Astus mused.

James growled, pushed past him and Sirius did the same. Astus watched them leave, and then glanced at the roof again. A piece of the wood was removed, and the four children looked down.

"Wow! Has this always been here?" Ron asked.

"Yes. This manor is quite the good spot for a challenging game of hide and seek," Astus said as Harry and Harrison lowered down the ladder they had used to climb up to the space. "Now, I suggest you take the hidden stairs down to the first floor."

"Where is it, where is it?" Harry asked, excited. "This place is so awesome!"

Astus walked over to the wall and lightly knocked at one of the panels. It moved aside, as did two more and a bluish flame shone the light on the stairs.

"Careful though. We haven't used these stairs for a while," Astus advised. "By the way, quite the splendid work on their hair."

"Thanks!" the kids chorused, even Hermione. He smiled as the panels closed again, and then the smile dropped.

Arms draped around his waist, and sighing Astus sank into Abraxas's embrace.

"What is it?" Abraxas asked.

"I do try to see them as the children they are," Astus replied, "but I can't help it… I still see _my _Ron, _my _Hermione… the ones who knew me. The ones who died for me. They are so different here, it's almost painful to see. They have become someone else's Ron and Hermione."

"And yours will forever be remembered by you," the blond soothed, stroking his chest in a comforting gesture. "As will all those you left behind to change their fates. They may live different lives now, but always remember what lives they had in your original time."

"Remembering all that pain is exhausting."

"It's not all bad things, you've told me that yourself. There were good times too. Never forget that."

"Yeah, I know. We really had some good times… if you count getting into life-threatening situations good times that is," Astus said. "We had a knack for it. Or rather, me and Ron had a knack for it, and we dragged poor Hermione after us."

"I don't know, from what I've heard, if she ever minded that."

"She'd be too worried if she hadn't followed," Astus corrected. "She and Mrs Weasley… mother-hens, both of them."

"Doesn't look like that has changed any," the blond replied, releasing Astus. "Come on. Let's go and see if we can't find Severus. Or someone else. Perhaps play some chess."

"You always win at it."

"Not always, you can do it if you put your mind to it!"

Astus only shook his head but joined Abraxas's side as they walked downstairs.

Lucius was up by now, almost fully healed from his attack, and drinking some tea in the living room. The Black sisters and the Evans sisters were there too.

"Oh, all alone with the ladies?" Abraxas asked his son.

"Don't say that!" Lucius protested. Well, after he was done choking on his tea. "That startled me. Don't sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry about that. And what else should I say, when you in fact _are _alone with all the ladies in the house. Besides young Miss Granger, but I think she's having more fun with the kids anyway."

"Dad, seriously, _stop_."

"Why?"

"Because it's embarrassing!"

"He's blushing. Astus, look, he's blushing! Oh, how sweet!"

Astus chuckled seeing Lily's stare as Abraxas hugged Lucius to himself.

"It's quite alright," he told Lily when she turned to him. "Abraxas has always been like that. I doubt he'll ever change."

"Hell will freeze over before he stops mothering his son," Bellatrix said. She and Petunia was playing cards. "Honestly…"

"Now, now, Abraxas enjoys it, let him do it."

"What about you?" Bellatrix said. "You're still spoiling Severus!"

"Well, that's… I think you will understand when you're a parent yourself. Especially with an only child. You just can't help it." Astus shrugged. "Plus I've seen Severus when he was three years old. It's hard to scold him remembering that adorable face."

"Did you just call me adorable?"

Severus, half-in and half-out at the doorway to the living room, stared at his father. There was a faint smell of…

"Lavender?" Astus said. "What on Earth are you making?"

"Failure, it appears," Severus replied. "I accidently destroyed a cauldron."

"Oh…" Astus shrugged again. "Well, it's not like we don't have enough of them. What did you try to make?"

"Ask me that again when I'm sure." Severus walked into the room. "I was just fooling around. I just came out because I was alerted someone tested the wards from the outside."

"I didn't notice," Astus said with a frown.

"It's the outer one," he replied. "You only feel the inner ones. I'm not sure if it's just an animal or not, but I'm going to check it out."

"I'll go with you."

"You don't need any back-up?" Abraxas asked as he finally released his son.

"I doubt it, but thank you anyway," Severus said. "We'll be back in a minute."

Astus waved at them before following his son into the hall, to the front doors and through them. The sharp sun made Astus shield his eyes for a moment. He blinked a few times and the scenery cleared up.

"Dad? Are you alright? I can always go with Abraxas…"

"No, I'm fine," Astus said. "Just a bit unprepared. To think sun can affect me so much after all these years."

"You're not out enough when the sun's actually out."

"I'll try to be better."

They strolled towards the wards, wands in their hands. They didn't see any movements beyond the wards, which were invisible normally but thanks to a spell they were seen by Severus and Astus.

"Do you feel anyone?" Severus asked as they closed in.

"Yes. They are hiding quite well though." Astus came to a stop. "They are trying to get in."

"So they don't care who is in the manor beside us, they just want the Potters dead?"

"Desperation drives a lot of crazy actions."

"Well, I wish they could think for once. Then we'd had time to find them and finish them off, because clearly this group can't think quickly enough."

"That was rather confusing, but I do think I understand. In my time, they were a lot quicker at thinking."

"And they had Voldemort," Severus said. "I think he made quite the difference."

"Oh, he made all the difference." Astus ran a hand along the wards, watching them shudder and ripple at his touch before settling again. "It makes me almost sad to be his killer. If times only had been different…"

"Yeah, we all wish that. Now let's find out where those rebels are hiding, alright?"

"You don't much like when I speak respectfully of him, do you?" Astus sent out a scan by sweeping his wand in a wide arc. The results would return shortly.

"No, I can't say I do. It's weird. He killed so many people, practically destroyed your life when you were young yet you can admire him?"

"I guess so. Voldemort was a twisted man, don't get me wrong." The results came back and Astus frowned at it before sending out another scan. "He was evil, but not because he chose to be. It's rather because no one let him be anything else. No one taught him he could be anything else. In a way, his life is the most tragic of them all. I partly pity him, really. I didn't have a family who loved me, just like him, but at least I gained friends."

"I still think it's weird that you respect him. He could have gained friends too."

Astus smiled a bit as the second result of the scan came in. "Really?"

Severus glanced over at him, but Astus trained his gaze outside the wards.

"Not too large of a group I think… however, the wards…"

That was about as far as he got before a searing pain went through his body. His back arched, forced him to throw his head back, and then Astus stared up at the sun.

A sun that seemed intent on killing him. Blisters rose from his skin, it sizzled and cooked underneath and he screamed. The pain was pulsating, he collapsed without realizing it, clawing at his face and rolling up to a ball. It didn't help. The sun was coming closer. The sun was killing him, slowly but surely and he was just screaming.

Then Severus's grip, his hands heaved Astus up to his feet, and they were moving. Astus very much felt like passing out, but there was no such relief in sight. It had to be a spell. Had to be. He couldn't suddenly have changed from a day-walking vampire, to a vampire who couldn't stand the sun. There was no way…

-o-

Lily had finally relaxed, content to read a book while Bellatrix and Petunia continued with their game of cards. Abraxas and Lucius had settled for chess, as Astus wasn't there to play with the older Malfoy, and Narcissa watched her sister and friend play.

However, it didn't take long for the peace to shatter. The front doors opened. It sounded more like they shattered, or at the very least crashed into the walls with surprising force, and they were all up from their seats within moments. Lily heard James shout, followed by Sirius.

Then came the howl. It was inhuman. There was no way that sound came from the throat of a person. It was filled with pain, and hatred, and a clear desire to wish its pain upon someone else. Very quickly mind.

They were running towards the hall, wands drawn for those who carried them, and a candle stick for Petunia. She never was one afraid for a fight, even if it was against magic.

But the sight that met them was not one Lily expected. She was expecting a monster, a creature from a darkness she couldn't comprehend.

Instead all she saw was Severus and Astus. Another howl came, just the same, and it tore out of Astus's throat. Smoke was coming off his skin even as he writhed on the floor. Hands tried to claw at his face but Severus stopped him. When the hands were pried away, Lily saw the fangs in Astus's mouth, how his eyes had taken a red tint and that the skin was actually blackened in places, like he was burning up.

Then Abraxas was there, holding him and Astus gripped the man's shirt, ripped it partly. Severus was swearing, running diagnostic scans over his father.

"He was bit by some sort of spell. Shit! It must be a sort of trigger for vampires. The windows, cover all the windows now!"

Lucius and Bellatrix were on it immediately even as Petunia rushed to close the doors. The kids, Draco included, were held back by James, Sirius and Remus.

When it got darker Astus finally calmed a bit, but his breathing was hard, and Lily was sure they could all smell burnt flesh and blood.

"To his room, now." Severus's voice was low, and hard. "Keep the children away. Lily, you've had healing training, right?"

"Ah, yes…" She didn't know how he knew, but if he knew that he must also be aware of she was nowhere near Poppy or any of the healers at a hospital.

"Could you please follow us then?"

There was really no other option. Lily knew she couldn't refuse when he had that tone of voice. A steely note, probably used when he wasn't about to let anyone argue about something with him. It was very effective.

It didn't take long until she was standing in the doorway of Astus's room. It was quite dim but Lucius lit a few candles, giving the room an eerie feeling. It was cold too. Lily stepped inside, slowly, not knowing what she expected.

Getting used to it though, she realized it was quite a comfortable room. They had already placed Astus on the bed, Abraxas cradling him, helping him through the pain. She could see the blood smear over the covers, on Abraxas's clothes and skin where they touched. She couldn't even start to imagine how Astus was feeling.

"I don't know how to cancel it," Severus said, still in that steely, hard tone. "But it was done by someone outside the wards, someone who is trying to get in. Dad was about to tell me something about it when he was hit."

"How did the spell appear?" Lily asked, stepping forward and rolled up the sleeves of her shirt. She took out her wand and sat down on the bed, just shy of bumping into Astus's hip. "I'll run a scan now, Astus. It won't hurt. Just light, so close your eyes to be sure."

A gentle glow covered him. The skin was gone at some places, exposing sticky redness and she winced with him. It must be painful. Is this the damage a normal vampire could take if they ever walked in the sun? But how could it have affected Astus? He could walk under the sun.

Severus came to sit by his father's side, and Astus moved out a hand, holding it out and Severus took it gingerly between his two palms, cradling it like it would shatter at the slightest pressure.

"It's not a spell designed to cause damage to vampires," Lily said. "It's all here. It's to enchant a person's weakness. Even if Astus can walk under the sun, he is still sensitive to it. This spell made him all the more vulnerable to it."

"So…"

"So until we can remove it, we must take care to not expose him to any weaknesses he might have," Lily spoke softly. "It's a dark spell. Someone like me, I can't remove it. But someone with an affinity for the dark could."

"Like us," Abraxas spoke. "The Malfoys are renowned for their strength in the dark arts."

"Yes. But this one is very powerful. It will take a while to remove it, probably."

"They're probably trying to get in as we speak," Severus ground out. "Damnit!"

"The wards…"

Astus's voice was like gravel, and Lily saw how the lips cracked when he spoke.

"Dad, don't speak. Just relax."

"No, I have to… the wards are already… half-broken… they lured us out."

"What?"

The lips drew into a smile. "They knew… I'd come out. A vampire is a dangerous foe, Sev… that's why they took me out… first. They'll be inside… soon. Call for back-up, now."

Severus hadn't more than turned to Lucius before the blond was running from the room. Lily gnawed at her lip, twisting her hands together.

"It hurts… quite a bit." Astus moved a little. "I didn't know… the pain would be this bad."

"Is there anything we can do?" Abraxas asked Lily.

"Pain reliever is probably the best right now. He should heal on his own."

Severus was already out of the room, into his own and returned in less than a minute with a bottle that he made Astus drink.

"And perhaps… if he had something to eat." Lily was hesitant about this. How did they even get blood for Astus?

Abraxas started to move and rolled up one sleeve.

"Abraxas…" Astus breathed out.

"No, no protests this time. Let me."

Severus removed something from Astus's nightstand, glanced over at Lily before handing over a sharp-looking dagger to Abraxas. Lily moved from the bed even as Abraxas without making a face cut open part of his own arm. She could see the blood trickling down and then the blond moved it over Astus's mouth.

The first drop did nothing, but then Astus's back arched and his lips pulled back. Before he could bite into his lover's arm Astus visibly calmed himself down though, and let the blood trickle into his mouth.

Lily backed out of the room, followed by Severus even as Lucius came up the stairs.

"Floo has been cut off, and I can't get a message out!" he stated. "They got us good, Severus. We're trapped."

Tbc…

* * *

Cliffhanger. That's normal for me by now. I hope it doesn't upset you guys too much.

Next chapter: Will they get a message out before the dark gets in, or will they have to fight? And what about Astus? Can he even fight? Does he even dare to try?

Until later,

Ja,

Tiro


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